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Chinese Migrant Worker Representation and Institutional Change: Social or Centralist Corporatism?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2015

Richard Croucher  and
Lilian Miles
Richard Croucher
Affiliation:
Middlesex University
Lilian Miles
Affiliation:
Middlesex University

Abstract

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This article argues that the Chinese state has more highly articulated policies to deal with social disturbance than previously recognized by specialists. It does so by highlighting and critically analyzing the policies followed to improve the opportunities for migrant worker representation. The state has adopted a three-pronged policy. It has improved migrant worker rights, encouraged the official unions to help enforce these rights and allowed NGOs to offer certain services. The official unions are encouraged to adopt a legal watchdog role by a combination of legislation and limited external organizational competition. We argue that the dynamic of organizational competition is a previously unrecognized factor in moving China in a ‘socialist corporatist’ direction.

Keywords

migrant worker representationunionscivil societyinstitutional change
Type
Research Article
Information
Asian Journal of Comparative Law , Volume 5 , 2010 , pp. 1 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore 2012

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