The Labor Disputes in the Republic of China, 1927-1937

Author: Tian Tong

Publisher: The Commercial Press

 

 

Labor disputes have been the subject of heated debate within the academic community since the May Fourth Movement. Over the years, researchers have adopted different perspectives, such as examining disputes within the context of labor movements and the enterprise system or looking at labor policies, law, and the interaction of labor and capital with the Kuomintang (KMT) government.

 

The Labor Disputes in the Republic of China, 1927- 1937 puts the labor disputes in the period of the Nanjing national government under the microscope, exposing a complex problem that falls within the purview of politics, law, economics, international relations and cultural anthropology.

 

The study of labor disputes in the years from 1927 to 1937 can be considered representative because the Nanjing national government enjoyed a period of stability in this “golden decade” when its governance capacity was also fully demonstrated.

 

During this period, labor disputes were no longer a simple manifestation of conflicts between management and workers over working conditions. They mirrored the complex conflicts among labor, capital, party and the government, offering us a glance at the governance capacity, political wisdom and authority of the KMT government as well as an explanation for the history of the Chinese society.

 

The author asserts that the biggest problem of the Nanjing national government was the alienation of the KMT administration at all levels, which aggravated social conflicts and led to its ultimate collapse. Labor disputes were not isolated phenomena. They reflected the changing landscape of confrontations and alliances among workers, government, capitalists and armed forces.

 

The book points out that the KMT government lost the support of both workers and capitalists in the process of resolving labor disputes. Workers’ groups were not intrinsically tied to any particular ideology. Workers’ political culture rooted in the emergence of the working class and self-identification.

 

Therefore, the author concludes that, though the country was moving forward, it was deeply mired in a range of complicated social conflicts. As long as the KMT government was in power, even without the wars against Japanese, its historical fate was sealed.

 

The author offers a constructive criticism of the way in which KMT government handled labor disputes. The establishment of friendly labor and capital relations depends on face-to-face negotiations between the two parties involved. The intervention of the KMT government did not balance the conflicting interests and inevitably drew opposition from both sides because it went against the rule of the market and singled out the disputing parties. What it should have done, the author speculates, was to provide a channel for communication and allow everything resolve itself.

 

Lastly, there are two areas in which the book could be improved. The first is the case study it chose. In the book, there are three chapters of case studies, but two of them are about the textile industry. If other industries were included, it might be more convincing. In addition, if solutions to labor disputes in the CPC-led area were presented and compared to that of KMT-ruled area, the different political demands could be better demonstrated.

 

Huo Xinbin is from the School of Politics and Administration at South China Normal University.

 

 

The Chinese version appeared in Chinese Social Sciences Today, No. 676, Dec. 1, 2014.

 

Translated by Yang Xue

Revised by Justin Ward