Wenfang Tang

Chinese urban life under reform : the changing social contract

Acknowledgements Part I. Introduction: 1. Socialist and market social contracts 2. The urban social world Part II. Group Interests: 3. Life chances: education and jobs 4. Economic rewards 5. Popular reactions to the changing social contract 6. Labor-management relations 7. Civil servants and bureaucratic behavior 8. Political participation and interest articulation Part III. Gender: 9. Gender and work William L. Parish and Sarah Busse 10. Gender and family William L. Parish and James Farrer Part IV. Comparisons and Conclusions: 11. Taiwan and China compared 12. Conclusion Appendices References Index.

Chinese labor relations in a changing work environment

The work environment in Chinese factories is a unique combination of elements in socialist central planning, traditional kinship ties, and market competition. These factors have varying consequences on employees’ job satisfaction, work commitment and workplace interest articulation. Market reform changed the social contract between the government and workers. It brought higher wages, but less security and more market whip. The changing social contract had a mixed effect on work satisfaction and commitment, and resulted in increased managerial authority and declining bargaining power among workers. Data are drawn from a 1991–1992 enterprise employee survey in 100 firms.

Social reaction to reform in urban China

In China, market reform did not increase popular desire for democracy. In fact, the massive urban demonstrations in 1989 were triggered mostly by the fear that reform was going too fast. Although Chinese urbanites enjoyed the newly available consumer goods, they were deeply divided and unable to identify the sources of the negative consequences of reform.