Atomized Incorporation: Chinese Workers and the Aftermath of China's Rise

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Sungmin Rho (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva)

Atomized Incorporation

Chinese Workers and the Aftermath of China's Rise

Sungmin Rho (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva)

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English

Cambridge University Press
04 December 2025

Political economy

Atomized Incorporation examines why the Chinese regime selectively tolerates workers' collective action within single factories and what this means for the country's long-term political resilience. It investigates the implications of state-labor relations in contemporary China and suggests that it has evolved away from overt coercion to limited incorporation. Based on two years of in-depth fieldwork, Rho uncovers how ordinary workers think, believe, and behave in this changing socio-political environment. She demonstrates that labor grievances have become more politicized and finds that the current approach to economic grievance resolutions demobilizes the emergence of labor movements by rewarding those with collective action resources within individual workplaces. Rho argues that though this limited state of incorporation allows workers to express discontent at wages and working conditions, it also denies them the opportunity to make claims about structural problems and does not effectively enhance political loyalty in the long run.

By: Sungmin Rho (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies Geneva)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Weight: 452g
ISBN: 9781009161190
ISBN 10: 1009161199
Pages: 276
Publication Date: 04 December 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

1. Introduction; 2. The political costs of labor coercion: the changing socioeconomic environment since the 2000s; 3. Atomized incorporation: regime response to the changing environment; 4. Politicization of labor discontent and blame attribution; 5. Workplace mobilization and collective action; 6. Interest-based collective action and firm-level patterns of labor protests; 7. Discursive opportunities and collective action at law-abiding firms; 8. State-labor relations in the Xi era and beyond.

Sungmin Rho is Assistant Professor of International Relations and Political Science at The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. She also conducts policy-relevant research by collaborating with international organizations such as International Labor Organization (ILO).

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Atomized Incorporation

Chinese Workers and the Aftermath of China's Rise

Sungmin Rho (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva)

$99.95 $84.97

Paperback

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