Chinese Trade Unions in the Transition from Socialism: Towards Corporatism or Civil Society?

The article explores the changing role of China's trade unions in the era of post-Mao economic reform in the light of two alternative scenarios of organizational evolution—corporatism and civil society. Using interviews and survey materials as well as documentary evidence, it concludes that the increasing complexity of the Chinese economy and the tensions it is producing are creating an associational universe of workers' organizations which is diverse and volatile, embodying elements of both scenarios. In such a context, corporatist industrial relations will be difficult to establish and maintain and it is likely that, in relations between unions and the party-state, the principles of corporatist inclusion and free association will come into increasing conflict.