The Making of Labour Precarity in China Since 1949

Globally, most workers live precarious lives. In this examination of China’s industrial relations since 1949, Xiaojun Feng explores why this should be. China provides an important case to examine this question because it has gone through both socialist revolution and marketized reforms, the major economic and political dynamics that have shaped the world since the twentieth century. Developing a comprehensive analytical framework for the interpretation of archives, interviews, and participant observation, Feng explores the causes of and remedies for labour precarity in China. Bridging the 1949 and 1976 divides, this study unveils continuities and more fundamental discontinuities across these watershed moments, and sheds fresh light on the extent to which popular policy can counter labour precarity and the future dynamics of labour movements.