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The Trajectories of Industrial Relations: China and India

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Perspectives on Neoliberalism, Labour and Globalization in India

Abstract

This essay compares the industrial relations trajectories of China and India through different periods of evolution of their industrial relations systems. The basic argument is that, from a functional equivalence point of view, the two systems exhibited considerable convergence in the early periods. However, they have been diverging in later periods. In the current period, I argue that the two IR systems evidence converging divergences. Specifically, they are converging in terms of the objective of constraining the space for labour activism and contention while diverging in the methods used to achieve this objective. In terms of the argument undergirding the chapters in this volume, both countries evidence a transition from strongly regulated and state-dominated labour market institutions to a more marketized model of regulation that increasingly draws upon the discourse of neoliberalism to articulate deregulatory policies. Whether labour is able to challenge this discourse remains an open question in both countries.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A process that Lee (2007) calls ‘decentralized legal authoritarianism.’

  2. 2.

    Presidential term limits had been introduced into the Chinese constitution after Mao’s death by his successor Deng Xiaoping, in order to prevent indefinite one-person rule.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Sarosh Kuruvilla

  2. London School of Economics, London, UK

    Sarosh Kuruvilla

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  1. Sarosh Kuruvilla
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. XLRI, Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India

    K.R. Shyam Sundar

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 10.4.

Table 10.4 Convergence and divergence in IR trajectories in India and China
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Kuruvilla, S. (2019). The Trajectories of Industrial Relations: China and India. In: Shyam Sundar, K. (eds) Perspectives on Neoliberalism, Labour and Globalization in India. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6972-8_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6972-8_10

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