A Class Against Capital: Class and Collective Bargaining in Guangdong

Abstract

This paper argues that a class against capital emerged in Guangdong province between 2007 and 2014. I base my arguments on data drawn from significant strikes in the province and the processes of collective bargaining that partially resolved them. I observe that the formation of a working class against capital in Guangdong, made up primarily of migrant workers, has at least partially overcome fragmentary pressures it continues to face. I argue that it is the self-activity of workers themselves that is chiefly responsible for the significant improvement in wages and, to a lesser extent, working conditions that unfolded during this period. While collective bargaining remains mostly—but not exclusively—outside institutional norms, workers’ agency pushed the practical application of forms of collective bargaining on to both the political and labour relations agenda in Guangdong and beyond. Continued pressure from below will keep it there.

Keywords:

• Guangdong
• class struggle
• labour movement
• collective bargaining
• working class formation
• class against capital

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tim Pringle

Tim Pringle is a Senior Lecturer in Labour, Social Movements and Development at SOAS with special reference to China. Tim entered academia at the age of 45 when he embarked on a PhD programme at the University of Warwick while simultaneously working as a co-investigator on a major research project examining trade union reform in Russia, China, and Vietnam. He has published two books: Trade unions in China: The challenge of labour unrest (Routledge, 2011) and The challenge of transition: Trade unions in Russia, China and Vietnam (Palgrave, 2011) with Professor Simon Clarke.