Workers and Change in China

Resistance, Repression, Responsiveness

Manfred Elfstrom

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781108831109
• eBook ISBN: 9781108924450
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Global Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Strikes, protests, and riots by Chinese workers have been rising over the past decade. The state has addressed a number of grievances, yet has also come down increasingly hard on civil society groups pushing for reform. Why are these two seemingly clashing developments occurring simultaneously? Manfred Elfstrom uses extensive fieldwork and statistical analysis to examine both the causes and consequences of protest. The book adopts a holistic approach, encompassing national trends in worker–state relations, local policymaking processes and the dilemmas of individual officials and activists. Instead of taking sides in the old debate over whether non-democracies like China's are on the verge of collapse or have instead found ways of maintaining their power indefinitely, it explores the daily evolution of autocratic rule. While providing a uniquely comprehensive picture of change in China, this important study proposes a new model of bottom-up change within authoritarian systems more generally.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Series information
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Maps
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Recipes for Resistance
• 3 Bureaucratic Incentives
• 4 Orthodox Control
• 5 Risk-Taking Control
• 6 Increased Repressive and Responsive Capacity
• 7 Bottom-Up versus Top-Down Change
• 8 Conclusion
• Appendices
• References
• Index