The Unmaking of the Chinese Working Class

A fascinating look at China's 40-year project to remake its working class.

This groundbreaking book tells the story of China’s incredible rise to the status of global economic superpower through the lens of labor and land. Despite the country’s impressive growth on the world stage, China continues to face considerable challenges at home as it struggles to develop a robust domestic population of consumers. Drawing inspiration from EP Thompson’s classic study of England’s transition to capitalism, Teemu Ruskola uses comparative analysis between China and Great Britain to explain how China has made and re-made its working class over the last fifty years. Engaging and accessible, this book is required reading for anyone who wants to better understand the political economy of one of the world’s leading economic powers.Preface

Introduction
Commodifying Humans and Nature

Chapter 1: Making Workers and Peasants
Socialist Foundations, 1949-1978

Chapter 2: Remaking the Peasant
Rural Industrialization, 1978-1994

Chapter 3: Unmaking the Worker
Urban Proletarianization, 1994-Present

Chapter 4: Unmaking the Peasant
Rural Proletarianization, 1994-Present

Conclusion
Limits of Development in the Age of Chinese CapitalTeemu Ruskola is Professor of Law and East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania. He writes on questions of legal history and theory from a comparative and international perspective, often with China as a vantage point. He is the author of Legal Orientalism: China, the United States, and Modern Law.