In the summer of 2010, thousands of migrant workers employed in auto parts suppliers for Toyota and Honda walked off the job to demand higher wages and better working conditions. This and other evidence (including a wave of employee suicides at factories owned by Foxconn) strongly suggested that migrant workers were no longer willing to put up with the labor practices that have made China the workshop of the world. The chapters in this collection provide valuable context to understand migrant workers as an emerging and influential third sector in Chinese society and politics. Indeed, while the title of this impressive and wide-ranging collection makes an obvious play on the “one country, two systems” formulation, the contributors show clearly that China has three, not two societies, with the third consisting of migrant workers who possess a legal and social status, and political attitudes, clearly separating them from their urban and...

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