Looking for Work in Post-Socialist China - Governance, Active Job Seekers and the New Chinese Labour Market (Hardcover)

Unemployment is one of the most politically explosive issues in China and has gained further prominence as a result of the present global financial crisis. The novelty, urgency, and complexity of Chinese unemployment have compelled the government to experiment with policy initiatives that originate in the West, initiatives such as training programmes, career and psychological counselling, a web-based national labour-market information network, and labour-market insurance, and also other employment-related initiatives such as using community (shequ) organizations as the base for new mechanisms of governance and informal job generation. This book examines these initiatives which represent China's attempt to institutionalize, professionalize and humanize its approach to governance, drawing heavily on international norms and standards in employment regulation. Based on extensive original research including semi-structured interviews, the book argues that although the Chinese government is not a liberal democracy, it is increasingly using liberal techniques to govern. The book discusses the ways in which the government combines the new techniques with old campaign-style policy techniques, which not only makes the state's power visible, but also allows it to claim credit for managing unemployment.