From the semiproletariat to the new working class in China

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyze, theoretically and empirically, the major transformations of the Chinese working class over the last 45 years. We conducted a comprehensive literature review on the semi-proletariat category, on the debates surrounding the causes of wage increases in China, and on the recent wave of informality, platform-based work and the new forms of precarization. This article also updates the data on the labor market, showing recent transformations and their implications for the analytical categories. Our contribution lies in advancing the characterization and theorization of the new form of the Chinese working class, using a critical Marxian framework centered on the forms that the relationship between active worker and reserve army can take shape.

JEL: F66, J01, J21, J31, J61.

Keywords:
Labour; class; China; Semi-proletariat; Precarization