PARADOXES OF LABOUR REFORM
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PARADOXES OF LABOUR REFORM
Chinese Labour Theory and Practice from Socialism to Market
Luigi Tomba
First Published in 2002
by RoutledgeCurzon
This editon published 2013 by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
2002 Luigi Tomba
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ISBN 0700711511
CONTENTS
This book would not have been possible without the decisive help of many people and of several institutions. The Scuola Superiore di Studi Storici di San Marino (Higher School of Historical Studies of San Marino) accepted my project and funded my studies in the years between 1993 and 1997, when the research work for this book was undertaken. G.G. Feltrinelli Foundation in Milan also offered some financial support to my research.
My gratitude goes to Tony Saich who accepted to act as my supervisor during the PhD that was the origin of this book and offered meaningful comments during the revision of my thesis for publication. Also, without his practical help (and the hospitality of his wife, Zeng Yinyin) my field visit in Beijing would have been impossible at a time when my budget constraints were particularly difficult.
Some Chinese colleagues were both sources for my research and insightful advisors: Feng Lanrui, who had a great deal of stories to tell and a lot of experiences to share, Dai Yuanchen, Guo Shuqing, Zhao Shukai, Xiang Biao, Zhu Jianfang, Yuan Yue. I am also indebted to Steve McGurk for sharing with me his contacts in Beijing.
Thanks are due to Flemming Christiansen, Anita Chan, Enrica Collotti Pischel and Guido Samarani who offered suggestions on earlier drafts of this study and were always ready to share information on their own research, and to two anonymous readers whose suggestions contributed to this final version.
I am grateful to Nancy Hearst who agreed to spend her time and expertise to refine my English and my quotations.
Mine, of course, remains the responsibility for all mistakes and inaccuracies in the text.
I had the privilege to share this experience with many friends who have been valuable sources of encouragement. They will probably be relieved to know that this book goes to press. The heaviest burden was on Silvias shoulders: thanks.
Finally, this work is dedicated to my parents.
What is labour? To what extent did the continuous yet contradictory evolution of theoretical understanding in this field affect the process of reform of existing socialism in China from the late 1970s to the early 1990s? Why is the theory of labour so intimately intertwined with the Chinese socialist policymaking process, and why did the ability of public policy to intervene as a regulatory tool in the reality of the labour economy diminish with the passing of time and with the emergence of new, different, and contending interpretations of the labour issue? To what extent is the evolution from a full-employment policy and full state-led allocation to labour market theory and practice the result of conscious policy options rather than merely of the retreat of public intervention and the growing importance of market forces? What does the word labour mean at the end of this process and what purpose does this meaning serve?
Questions arise at the beginning of every research study. The questions I have listed above emerge from my difficulties in tackling separately the two streams of economic reform, that is, the political/theoretical debates resulting from political struggles and elite politics on the one hand, and the transformation of economic and social life in Chinese urban centres on the other.
The histories of theory and practice are generally kept separate, as they usually stem from different backgrounds and social circles, opposing or contradictory forces. This is impossible in the context of Chinese socialism. In the case of China, the claim to coordinate theory and praxis, thought and action, has been a challenge in the field of policy ever since the basic assumptions of all-embracing theories proved insufficient to address the social changes after the beginning of reform in 1978. The theoretical debate under socialism is an integral component of policymaking and, in most cases, players in the theoretical arena are involved directly in policy elaboration. It is hardly conceivable that any public theory on labour is not the formal result of political efforts.
The theory I will deal with in this study is therefore a pragmatic (sometimes, however, only in its premises and not in its final outcome), policy-oriented concept, the ground for evaluation of which is rather than its coherence with ideological frameworks its ability to lead towards the formation of guiding principles of policymaking and to synthesise different positions into political or economic guidelines. The practice to be investigated, in contrast, is the outcome of policy action, a result both of the implementation of planned guidelines and of general (economic, social, and political) constraints.
