Ivan Franceschini

The “Rights Awakening” of Chinese Migrant Workers: Beyond the Generational Perspective

ABSTRACT  In the spring of 2010, the strike of the Honda workers in Nanhai instigated an on-going discourse on the “rights awakening” of the “new generation of migrant workers.” Since then, much has been written about these young workers, generally described as more pro-active and ready to stand up against their employers than the older and more subservient generation. Drawing from statistical findings from two factory-gate surveys in the metal mechanics and garment sectors in Shenzhen, this paper tests two hypotheses: (a) that workers of the younger generation are more cognizant of their legal rights than older workers; (b) that the younger generation wants to work fewer hours and to enjoy life more. We argue that this popular image of the younger generation of migrant workers is one-dimensional and reductive, as it focuses only on generational differences as an explanatory factor for worker activism, while ignoring other issues such as types of industries and payment systems. In this paper, we purport that these elements play important roles in shaping the attitude of this younger generation toward their work and rights.

State Repression of Chinese Labor NGOs: A Chilling Effect?

Since their emergence in China in the mid-1990s, labor NGOs have been exposed to a wide array of threats by the Party-state. But under Xi Jinping the repressive strategies of the Chinese authorities have become more sophisticated, with the adoption of new laws and regulations aimed at enforcing state control and efforts to cut the NGOs’ access to foreign funding. How do Chinese labor NGO activists cope with these threats? Do the attacks silence them or reinforce their commitment? This article assesses the consequences of repression on two levels: at a subjective level, affecting the outlook and motivations of individual activists, and on an operational level, affecting the priorities and strategies of labor NGOs. We argue that while labor activists are equipped to deal with the “rough” side of repression, the more sophisticated approach recently pursued by Chinese authorities is much more threatening.

The ‘Jasmine Revolution’ in China: the limits of the cyber-utopia

The study of the Chinese Internet plays a fundamental part in an on-going global discussion on the role of the new media as tools of political change. It is undeniable that the development of the Internet in China is terrific both in terms of infrastructure investment and citizen involvement. Yet, even though this process has already been studied extensively and with varying perspective, several issues regarding its impact on Chinese society remain open. This paper will specifically delve into the conflicting nature of the Internet in Chinas political context. It will argue that in China, the Internet can favour political change as much as it can assist the authorities in their struggle to maintain the status quo. The argument will be structured in two parts: first, we will outline the “cyber-utopian” discourse in the Chinese context, underlining how the Internet has been perceived as a powerful instrument for political change since the Nineties; second, we will describe the various strategies employed by the Chinese authorities in order to control the Internet, specifically through modes of censorship, manipulation of information and judicial intimidation.

Slaving Away: The ‘Black Brick Kilns Scandal’ Ten Years On

years, one solitary blogger has been keeping track of the time that has passed since 28 March 2007, when fifteen-year-old Yuan Xueyu disappeared from a construction site in the centre of Zhengzhou, Henan province. Every morning, this blogger—who in his ‘ordinary’ life is a prominent media personality in China—posts exactly the same message: ‘Today it is day x in the search of Yuan Xueyu. Public Security Bureau of Zhengzhou, could you please tell us what progress has been made in his case? The missing workers in the incident of the black brick kilns in Shanxi province remain missing. Netizens have donated four thousand yuan as a reward for any relevant clue. The Public Security Bureau of Zhengzhou opened the case related to Yuan Xueyu’s disappearance back in 2007.’ Yuan Xueyu had arrived in Zhengzhou a couple of weeks before his disappearance to be an apprentice to a fellow villager—a worker specialising in setting up window frames. Like many of his childhood friends, he had been unable to resist the call of the big city, Ivan Franceschini

Chinese Workers and the Law: Misplaced Trust?

activism in contemporary China regards the attitude of Chinese migrant workers towards the law. In recent years, much has been written about the ‘rights awakening’ (quanli de juexing) of Chinese workers. But what kind of rights are we talking about? Do they respond to an entirely subjective concept of justice or do they somehow coincide with the entitlements provided by the labour legislation? And what is the relationship that binds legal awareness (falü yishi), rights consciousness (quanli yishi), and solidarity (tuanjie yishi)? That these elements do not necessarily go hand in hand is highlighted by the following testimony by a labour activist whom I interviewed in Shenzhen in 2014:

The Broken Belt: the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and the Communist Party in the People's Republic of China

Established in Guangzhou in 1925 and re-organized at the end of the 1940s as a «transmission belt» between the Party-State and the workers, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (Acftu) remains the only trade union whose existence is allowed in the Peoples Republic of China (Prc). Although the existing literature generally focuses on the structural limits of the Acftu, often describing it as a puppet of the Chinese Communist Party (Ccp), the history of the relations between the union and the Party in China since 1949 has been marred by disagreements and confrontations. In particular, this paper will delve into three conflicts that took place in 1951, 1957 and 1989. Resorting to the concept of «institutional conversion», it will be argued that even a relationship of substantial subservience as the one that binds the Acftu to the Ccp hides tensions that explode in periods of political or economic crisis