Constance Lever-Tracy

Global Warming and Sociology

Escalating climate change, partly induced by human activity, has made its way into public awareness, yet most sociologists, outside the specialism of environmental sociology, have had surprisingly little to say about the possible future social trajectories it may portend. Wary of accepting the truth claims of natural science, but aware of our own inability to judge the validity of their claims, we have generally preferred to look the other way, although these developments can affect the very core of our disciplines concerns. We need a cooperative multidisciplinarity of social and natural scientists working together.

The impact of the Asian crisis on diaspora Chinese tycoons

Abstract The paper argues that business culture is a core aspect of diaspora Chinese identity, and that transnational business success is a major source of resistance to national assimilation. The paper focuses on the threat posed by the Asian crisis, and on its impact on the transnational business activities of Chinese tycoons. It examines evidence about the impact of the crisis on the wealthiest tycoon families of the Chinese diaspora, using the Forbes Magazine annual ranking of the worlds billionaires. The analysis demonstrates considerable absolute and relative loss of wealth by Chinese tycoons but also points to survivors and newcomers, and it explores the strategies of these and the extent of their geographic and sectoral restructuring.

Asian Women in Business in Australia

Much of the literature on migrants in the work-force, in Australia as overseas, has tended to paint a picture of passive victims — unskilled, weak and lacking the ability to shape their own fate or to defend themselves against exploitation or the marginality of secondary or reserve army of labor status.1 On the other hand, an alternative emphasis has drawn attention to the resources of many of these workers in skills, industrial and trade union experience and community solidarities not always available to native workers.2 In the case of migrant women, the first approach has predominated, although there has been some emphasis on ways waged work can provide liberation from traditional patriarchy.3

The Longer Working Week in Australia—Working time Experiences and Preferences of Men

Abstract There has been a polarisation in the hours of work of men, with more working longer hours and more with no work. This paper reports a survey of 600 randomly selected adult men in Brisbane ...

Towards a Synergy

There can be little doubt that the opening of China to foreign investment was a critical moment in the evolution of Chinese diaspora business. The opening of the Pearl River Delta and the ten coastal cities in 1985 came at a crucial time for the business communities in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. The initial period of economic reform in China from 1979–85 had provided few such opportunities. Foreign investment was restricted to a number of Special Economic Zones administered by the central government and to certain designated industries dominated by the state sector. The opening of the Pearl River Delta and southern Fujian opened the way for the involvement of diaspora business in the economic reform process.

The Dragon and the Rising Sun: Market Integration and Economic Rivalry in East and Southeast Asia

tag=1 data=The Dragon and the rising sun: market integration and economic rivalry in East and Southeast Asia. by Constance Lever-Tracy and Noel Tracy tag=2 data=Lever-Tracy, Constance%Tracy, Noel tag=3 data=Policy Organisation and Society, tag=5 data=6 tag=6 data=Summer 1993 tag=7 data=3-24. tag=8 data=CHINA%SOUTH-EAST ASIA tag=10 data=The paper is intended to lay the groundwork for a projected study of the role and mode of operation of foreign Chinese capital and management in Guangdong province in South China. tag=11 data=1993/5/1 tag=12 data=93/0039 tag=13 data=CAB

Book Reviews : SEGMENTED WORK, DIVIDED WORKERS, by D. Gordon, R. Edwards, M. Reich. Cambridge University Press, 1982.

administrative sciences. Although the authors concentrate on the applications of their model to developments in capitalist economies, they also point out the important organizational problems which have been experienced in China, the Soviet Union and other socialist countries (pp. 522-30). In deciding on the most appropriate uses of this book, it should be recognized that this will not be an easy monograph to work through for those who are not already familiar with the general literature in sociology and political science, including the basic marxist categories of analysis. The authors have taken on an ambitious project, and they provide an impressive coverage of ideas and sources-with references to almost all the significant works in the field (including a 35 page bibliography). Their frequent references to the literature in the text, detailed reporting of research findings and summaries of major debates make the book read somewhat more like a thesis than a text. As a result it has some of the appeal of

16.50 (paper). THE DYNAMICS OF LABOUR MARKET SEGMENTATION, edited by F. Wilkinson. Academic Press, 1981.

We suggested in Chapter 3 that the first spur to the Chinese economy, in the early years of reform, came from a boost in incomes and the liberation of production in the localities for domestic consumption; this, however, was not able to sustain its momentum, and the turn to exports became the main engine of further growth. Advocates of export oriented industrialisation have applauded this move into the world market as the key to economic development. Critics of export oriented policies and of the development of export processing zones in third world countries, on the other hand, argue that these would be no more than short term offshore production platforms for first world investors. High profits would be made from the super-exploitation of (mainly female) workers while the impact back into the rest of the country would be minimal. When cheaper sources of labour were offered elsewhere, the investors would move out, leaving little behind.

26.00 (paper)

The new diaspora capitalists have obtained their wealth in China from organising the labour and selling the products of an even newer working class. Scarcely any of their employees have come to them from the established urban state sector. Guangdong and Fujian were largely agricultural at the start of the reform era and large numbers of peasants moved into rural industries. As the economy continued to expand, these proved insufficient, and those who had gained some industrial experience were in demand for supervisory, clerical and specialised positions and became less willing to accept the pay and conditions of factory production jobs. A majority of employees of our survey firms were in fact migratory workers from less industrialised parts of Guangdong and Fujian and from poorer inland provinces. Less than ten per cent of enterprises in Nanhai, Panyu or Xiamen did not employ migratory workers and even in Quanzhou the proportion was under a fifth. Overall 47 per cent of survey enterprises drew more than half their workers from other provinces.

Ripples on a Pond

The last two chapters examined the impact the diaspora was having on the development of China. In this chapter the focus will shift, and the guiding questions will rather be about the impact of the activities in China on the investing capitalists and on diaspora capitalism as a whole.