The 'flawed' institutionalisation of industrial conflict in China

Abstract

Has China’s Party-State succeeded in institutionalising labour unrest? In the 21st century, workers of the
People’s Republic of China (PRC) have been among the most active social actors worldwide in contentious
actions performed as well as in material and legislative improvements achieved. Accordingly, an increasing
number of scholars have investigated the industrial relations of the PRC, focusing on the sources of the
workers growing bargaining power and on the institutions and mechanisms designed to cope with labour
unrest. Through an empirical analysis of the strikes database and legal labour disputes, this article shows the magnitude and trends of labour unrest between 2011 and 2019, identifying two phases of the industrial strife. The frst “insurgent phase” from 2011 to 2016 has been characterized by massive and illegal strikes followed by an “institutional phase” from 2017 in which labour disputes via the legal system have progressively gained momentum. The article concludes that the Party-State has succeeded in promoting a “flawed institutionalization” of industrial relations, i.e., the efort to embed labour confict through the institutional channel of the labour disputes without granting workers’ political union representation.