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March 25, 2026Sociology Compass

The Contested Terrain of Skills: Revisiting Labor Process Debates and the Chinese Factory Regime

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Authors

HXHao XuHJHailong Jia

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Overview

This analysis revisits labor process debates on skills in Chinese factories, highlighting complex global capitalism dynamics.

Key Points

  • The paper aims to reconceptualize skills within labor process theory and explore their role in capitalist development.
  • Theoretically traces the evolution of labor process theory from Marx to contemporary critiques.
  • Analyzes comparative evidence from East Asia regarding skill formation in different regimes.
  • Examines case studies focusing on the Chinese factory regime's impact on labor and skill dynamics.
  • Demonstrates that labor control in Chinese factories often inhibits skills development rather than eroding existing competencies.
  • Identifies a structural low-skill equilibrium resulting from systematic barriers to skill formation.
  • Illustrates how global value chains create a divide between high-skill and low-skill labor.

Cite This Study

Xu et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69c37bb3b34aaaeb1a67e57dhttps://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.70173
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