The Remaking of the Chinese Working Class, 1949-1981

It is commonly remarked, and with obvious justification, that the working class did not make the Chinese revolution. An equally justified remark is rarely heard: that the revolution, on the contrary, has made the Chinese working class. This, baldly stated, is the major thesis of this essay. The year 1949 marked a sharp break in the continuity of Chinese working-class history. Not only did it mark the beginning of an unprecedented acceleration in the accumulation of both industrial capital and (new) industrial workers, but it ushered in the beginnings of a rapid transformation of virtually all aspects of working-class existence: the size and type of enterprises that employ workers; how workers are hired, trained, and paid; their job security, social security, and other benefits; how they find housing and buy daily necessities; and how firmly they are attached to their workplaces and the nature of this social tie.