Renmin University, roundtable about Labor Issues

The Student Union of the School of Marxist Studies at Renmin University of China has invited us for a roundtable on Thursday to discuss the Cultural Revolution as well as contemporary Chinese labor issues. The Cultural Revolution section will be framed around a handful of short presentations (in both Chinese and English) while the labor section will be a more open-ended discussion.

Time: The roundtable starts at 7pm.

Place: Humanities Building (人文楼), Eighth Floor Conference Room (八层会议室).

Below are the discussion questions from our side on on contemporary Chinese labor issues. Again, any additions or amendments are welcome:

Discussion Questions

1. What/who is labor? When you think about labor in China, who or what are you thinking about? How do you conceptualize labor? What 'face' do you put on it?

2. What is the status of labor law in China? Is legislation sufficient? How about enforcement?

3. The hukou (户口) system has left migrant workers in Chinese cities without real rights or entitlements. During the early phase of reform and opening, migrant workers held ambiguous legal status in the cities, a situation that allowed cooperatives to exploit migrant workers on a massive scale. Nowadays, though the hukou system has undergone some reforms, many migrant workers still lack adequate resources to health care and education, and are still being forced to work long hours for little pay and few social guarantees. What is stopping a more ambitious overhaul of the hukou system? Why are there not adequate social welfare systems in place for migrant workers?

4. What is the role of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU 中华全国总工会), the official trade federation? Whose interests does it serve? How can it be more effective on behalf of its members?) Is there a future role for independent labor organizing in China?

5. How can labor conditions in China be best understood from the standpoint of Marxist theory? Is "market socialism" essentially capitalist? Can the migrant labor question be understood as exploitation? Primitive accumulation?

6. International labor activists. Responding to concerns about labor conditions in China, the University of Notre Dame this week forbid companies from putting its school logo on any product from China. Is this a constructive approach to promoting better worker conditions in China? If not, what steps should international labor activists be taking?

7. How do we define 'progress' for workers?


If you are interested in attending and/or have any thoughts for the discussion questions, please send us an email or get in contact by text/phone: Cutler 150 1016 0420 / Jared 158 0123 0912.