This book uncovers the mysterious social and political structures of China's "Third Front," the large state-sponsored development of inland China during the late Maoist period. This movement gave birth to a few important industrial bases such as Panzhihua and Liupanshui and had significant impact on megacities such as Lanzhou, Wuhan, and Chongqing. Yet, this is scarcely known to the West and even the younger generation of Chinese. Chen explores the ways that new industrial structures and hierarchies were created and operated, using political and sociological methodologies to understand what is distinctive in the history of the Chinese corporation. This book will be of immense interest to political scientists, sociologists, China scholars, and researchers of alternative economic structures.

Explores in-depth the under-researched topic of Chinese Third Line workers Focuses on the micro-group production process within the factory Summarizes the industrial relations of the Third Line enterprise as toleration distinguishing it from state-owned enterprises in urban areas

Autorentext
Chao Chen, with a PhD from the National University of Singapore, is a rising scholar based at Xiamen University's Institute of Taiwan Research. Specializing in state and society relations, comparative political economy, and qualitative methods, Chen is a name to watch.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. The Third line Construction and Jinjiang Factory.- 3. The Context of Toleration (1): Isolated Life in Jinjiang Factory.- 4. The Context of Toleration (2): Interconnected Social Networks.- 5. The Context of Toleration (3): Workers' Control on Production.- 6. Toleration in Practice (1): The Phenomenon of Absenteeism.- 7. Toleration in Practice (2): The Governance of Absenteeism.- 8. Conclusion.