Abstract
In this article the author examines what he terms an “institutional culture of authority” that has come to characterize postrevolution Chinese industrial enterprises. This institutional culture is shaped by a pattern of organized dependency that is inherent in the economic relationship of employees to enterprises, and also in systems of reward and control that link the opportunities of employees to their behavior and attitudes. This institutional culture is manifested in widespread ritualism in political meetings, low exercise of voice by subordinates, the creation of patron-client networks linking the Party to selected employees, and the everyday cultivation of personal connections for individual gain.
The text of this article is only available as a PDF.
List of References
Andors, Stephen.
1977
. China's Industrial Revolution: Politics, Planning, and Management, 1949 to the Present
. New York
: Pantheon
.Barnett, A. Doak, with Vogel, Ezra.
1967
. Cadres, Bureaucracy, and Political Power in Communist China
. New York
: Columbia University Press
.Benedict, RuthF.
1946
. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword
. Boston
: Houghton Mifflin
.Bettelheim, Charles.
1974
. Cultural Revolution and Industrial Organization in China
. New York
: Monthly Review
.Broyelle, Claudie, Broyelle, Jacques, and Tschirhart, Evelyne.
1980
. China: A Second Look
. Translated by Matthews, Sarah. Atlantic Highlands, N.J.
: Humanities Press
.Cadre Department, Chinese Academy of Sciences
. 1961
. “Gei Laodong Bu Gongzi Ju ‘Guanyu Yanjiusheng Jianxi qi Manhou Dingji Wenti’ de Hanr” [Answer given to the Wages Department of the Labor Ministry “Concerning the question of setting wage grades for graduate students after their probationary period is completed”]. Cadre Office Document No. 15 1 (13 Mar.). Pp. 73
–74
in Planning Commission, 1973.Central Committee, Chinese Communist Party
. 1959
. “Guanyu Zhaidiao Youpai Maozi de Renyuan de Gongzuo Fenpei he Shenghuo Daiyu de Guiding” [Provisions on work assignments and remuneration for personnel who have had their rightist labels removed]. Pp. 137
–38 in Planning Commission, 1973.Almanac, China.
1980
. Zhongguo Baike Nianjian 1980 [China almanac 1980]
. Beijing
: Zhongguo Da Baike Quanshu Chubanshe
.Almanac, China.
1981
. Zhongguo Baike Nianjian 1981 [China almanac 1981]
. Beijing
: Zhongguo Da Baike Quanshu Chubanshe
.Cole, Robert E.
1971
. Japanese Blue Collar: The Changing Tradition
. Berkeley
: University of California Press
.Fujian Province Labor Bureau
. 1959
. “Guanyu Zhigong Diaodong hou Gongzi Daiyu de Chuli Yijian” [Suggestion for handling the wages and remuneration of transferred workers and staff]. Labor and Wages Document No. 405 (23 July). Pp. 37
–39
in Planning Commission, 1973.Fujian Province Labor Bureau
. 1962
. “Guanyu Yecan Fei Wenti gei Sheng Jiaotong Ting de Fuhan” ]Response to the Provincial Transportation Office concerning the issue of evening meal expenses]. Document No. 224 (26 Sept.). P. 215
in Planning Commission, 1973.Fujian Province Labor Bureau
. 1966
. “Guanyu Quxiao Zonghe Jiangli Zhidu Gaixing ‘Linshi Fujia Gongzi’ de Jidian Yijian” [Some opinions concerning the abolition of the comprehensive bonus system and the switch to the “Temporary supplemental wage”]. Labor Document No. 408 (29 Nov.). Pp. 153
–55 in Planning Commission, 1973.Fujian Province Price Commission
. 1966
a. “Guanyu Zhigong Shenghuo Butie de Buchong Tongzhi” ]Supplemental notice on livelihood supplements for workers and staff]. Document No. 85 (15 Sept.). Pp. 222
–24 in Planning Commission, 1973.Fujian Province Price Commission
. 1966
b. “Guanyu Tigao Liangshi Tongxiao Jiage he Dui Zhigong Shixing Shenghuo Butie de Baogao (Zhaiyao)” [Report on the rise in state grain prices and livelihood supplements for workers and staff (Abstract)]. (29 July.) Pp. 219
–21 in Planning Commission, 1973.Fujian Province Revolutionary Committee
. 1971
. “Guanyu Xin Zhaoshou Gongren de Gongzi Daiyu he Dingji deng Wend de Tongzhi” [Notice concerning various questions about wages and the setting of wage grades for newly recruited workers]. Provincial Political Department Document No. 63 (16 July). Pp. 10
–12
in Planning Commission, 1973.Fujian Province Revolutionary Committee
. 1973
. “Guanyu Zhigong Zhuanzheng Dingji deng Wenti de Tongzhi” [Notice on the setting of wage grades for workers and staff being given permanent status and related problems]. Provincial Political Department Document No. 166 (5 July). Pp. 12
–15
in Planning Commission, 1973.Hoffmann, Charles.
1967
. Work Incentive Practices and Policies in the People's Republic of China
. Albany
: State University of New York Press
.Howe, Christopher.
1973
. Wage Patterns and Wage Policy in Modern China, 1919–1972
. Cambridge
: Cambridge University Press
.Jacobs, J. Bruce.
1979
. “A Preliminary Model of Particularistic Ties in Chinese Political Alliances: Kan-ch'ing and Kuan-hsi in a Rural Taiwanese Township
.” China Quarterly
78
(June): 232
–73.Jowitt, Kenneth.
1974
. “An Organizational Approach to the Study of Political Culture in Marxist-Leninist Systems
.” American Political Science Review
68
(Sept.): 1
, 171–91.Kallgren, Joyce.
1968
. Aspects of Social Security in Contemporary China. Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University
.Kallgren, Joyce.
1969
. “Social Welfare and Chinas Industrial Workers.” In Chinese Communist Politics in Action, ed. Barnett, A. Doak, 540
–73. Seattle: University of Washington Press.Korzec, Michel, and Whyte, Martin K..
1981
. “Reading Notes: The Chinese Wage System
.” China Quarterly
86
(June): 248
–73.Labor Ministry
. 1953
. “Laodong Baoxian Tiaoli Shishi Xize Xiuzheng Cao'an” [Revised draft of detailed rules for implementing labor insurance regulations]. (26 Jan.) Pp. 286
–316
in Planning Commission, 1973.Labor Ministry
. 1964
. “Laodong Baoxian Wenti Jieda” [Answers to questions about labor insurance]. Pp. 317
–66 in Planning Commission, 1973.Landé, Carl H.;
1977
. “The Dyadic Basis of Clientelism.” In Friends, Followers, and Factions: A Reader in Political Clientelism
, ed. Schmidt, Steffen W., Scott, James C., Lande, Carl, and Guasti, Laura, xiii
–xxxvii. Berkeley
: University of California Press
.Lewis, John.
1963
. Leadership in Communist China
. Ithaca, NY
: Cornell University Press
.Heng, Liang and Shapiro, Judith.
1983
. Son of the Revolution
. New York
: Knopf
.Gang, Liu, Guochang, Wang, and Yichu, Xing.
1980
. Shanghai Chengshi jiti Suoyouzhi Gongye Yanjiu
. [A study of municipal collective industry in Shanghai]. Shanghai
: Renmin Chubanshe
.Lo, Ruth Earnshaw, and Kinderman, Katherine S..
1980
. In the Eye of the Typhoon
. New York
: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich
.Malinowski, Bronislaw.
1932
. Crime and Custom in Savage Society
. London
: Paul, Trench, Trubner
.Martin, Roberta.
1981
. Party Recruitment in China: Patterns and Prospects
. New York
: Columbia University, Occasional Papers of the East Asian Institute
.Metallurgy Ministry
. 1963
. “Kuangshan Jingxia Zhigong Xiajing Jintie Shixing Banfa” [Trial provisions for underground supplements for mine pit workers and staff]. Document No. 7266 (21 Oct.). Pp. 166
–67 in Planning Commission, 1973.Ministry of Control
. 1958
. “Guanyu Guojia Xingzheng Jiguan Gongzuo Renyuan de Jiang Cheng Zhanxing Guiding zhong jige Wenti de Jieda (Zhailu)” [Answers to some questions about the provisions for the reward and punishment of working personnel in state administrative organs (Excerpts)]. (12 June.) P. 139
in Planning Commission, 1973.Ministry of Internal Affairs
. 1964
. “Guanyu Guojia Xingzheng Jiguan Gongzuo Renyuan de Jiang Cheng Zhanxing Guiding Zhong Ruogan Wenti de Jieda” [Answers to certain questions concerning the temporary provisions for the reward and punishment of working personnel in state administrative organs]. (22 Apr.) Pp. 140
–42 in Planning Commission, 1973.Nathan, Andrew J.
1973
. “A Factionalism Model for CCP Politics
.” China Quarterly
53
(Jan.-Mar.): 34
–66
.National Labor Federation
. 1965
. “Guanyu Zai ‘Siqing’ Yundong Zhong Chachulai de Dizhu, Funong Fenzi de Gongling Jisuan Wenti de Fuhan” [Reply to questions concerning the calculation of seniority for landlord and rich peasant elements uncovered during the ‘Four Cleans’ movement]. Document No. 297 (24 May). P. 542
in Planning Commission, 1973.Oksenberg, Michel.
1970
. “Getting Ahead and Along in Communist China: The Ladder of Success on the Eve of the Cultural Revolution.” In Party Leadership and Revolutionary Power in China
, ed. Lewis, John Wilson, 304
–47. Cambridge
: Cambridge University Press
.Pateman, Carole.
1971
. “Political Culture, Political Structure, and Political Change
.” British Journal of Political Science
1
(July): 291
–305
.Planning Commission, Fujian Province Revolutionary Committee
. 1973
. Laodong Gongzi Wenjian Xuanbian (Gongzi, Fuli, Laodong Baoxian) [Selected documents on labor and wages (wages, benefits, and labor insurance)]. Official document for internal use.Powell, John Duncan.
1977
. “Peasant Society and Clientelist Politics.” In Friends, Followers, and Factions: A Reader in Political Clientelism
, ed. Schmidt, Steffen W., Scott, James C., Landé, Carl, and Guasti, Laura, 147
–61. Berkeley
: University of California Press
.Pye, Lucian W.
1968
. The Spirit of Chinese Politics: A Psychocultural Study of the Authority Crisis in Political Development
. Cambridge
: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press
.Pye, Lucian W.
1980
. The Dynamics of Chinese Politics
. Cambridge, Mass.
: Oelgeschlager, Gunn, and Hain
.Riskin, Carl.
1975
. “Maoism and Motivation: Work Incentives in China.” In China's Uninterrupted Revolution
, ed. Nee, Victor and Peck, James, 415
–61. New York
: Pantheon
.Schurmann, Franz.
1966
. Ideology and Organization in Communist China
. Berkeley
: University of California Press
.Second Ministry of Light Industry
. 1966
. ‘“Guanyu Qing, Shougongye Jiti Suoyou zhi Qiye Zhigong, Sheyuan Tuixiu Tongchou Zhanxing Banfa’ he ‘Guanyu Qing, Shougongye Jiti Suoyou Zhi Qiye Zhigong, Sheyuan Tuizhi Chuli Zhanxing Banfa’ de Tongzhi” [Notice on “Temporary overall provisions for the retirement of workers, staff and cooperative members of collectively owned enterprises in light industry and handicrafts” and “Temporary provisions for handling the severance of workers, staff, and cooperative members of collectively owned enterprises in light industry and handicrafts”]. Documents No. 11 and 59 (Apr.). Pp. 637
–46 in Planning Commission, 1973.Shirk, Susan.
1982
. Competitive Comrades: Career Incentives and Student Strategies in China
. Berkeley
: University of California Press
.Solomon, Richard H.;
1969
. “Mao's Effort to Reintegrate the Chinese Polity: Problems of Authority and Conflict in Chinese Social Processes.” In Chinese Communist Politics in Action
, ed. DoakBarnett, A., 271
–356
. Seattle
: University of Washington Press
.Solomon, Richard H.
1971
. Mao's Revolution and the Chinese Political Culture
. Berkeley
: University of California Press
.Council, State.
1953
. Labour Insurance Regulations of the People's Republic of China
. Peking
: Foreign Languages Press
.Council, State.
1957
a. “Guanyu Gongren, Zhiyuan zai Qiye zhijian Diaodong Gongzuo hou de Gongzi he Buzhu Fei de Zhanxing Guiding” [Temporary provisions regarding the wages and supplements of workers and staff transferred between enterprises]. Document No. 35 (29 July). Pp. 33
–34
in Planning Commission, 1973.Council, State.
1957
b. “Guanyu Chuli Guojia Jiguan, Qiye, Xuexiao zai Sufan Yundong zhong Chachu de Fangeming fenzi he Qita Huai Fenxi de Gongling he Gongzi Wenti de Guiding” [Provisions concerning the issue of the seniority and wages of counterrevolutionaries and other bad elements in state organs, enterprises, and schools who were uncovered during the campaign to eliminate counterrevolutionaries], Document No. 39 (9 Aug.). Pp. 135
–36 in Planning Commission, 1973.Council, State.
1957
c. “Guanyu Gaodeng Xuexiao he Zhongdeng Zhuanye Xuexiao Biyesheng zai Jianxiqi jian de Linshi Gongzi Daiyu de Guiding” [Provisions on the temporary wages for graduates of institutions of higher learning and specialized secondary schools during their probationary period]. Document No. 57 (25 Oct.). Pp. 65
–69
in Planning Commission, 1973.Council, State.
1958
. “Guanyu Gongren, Zhiyuan Huijia Tanqin de Jiaqi he Gongzi Daiyu de Zhanxing Guiding” [Temporary provisions on the length of home leave and leave pay for workers and staff]. (6 Feb.) Pp. 225
–27 in Planning Commission, 1973.Council, State.
1967
. “Guanyu Zhigong Zhuanzheng Dingji Wenti de Tongzhi” [Notice on problems concerning the setting of wage grades for workers and staff being given permanent status]. State Council Labor Department Document No. 382 (29 Dec). Pp. 1
–2
in Planning Commission, 1973.Stinchcombe, Arthur.
1965
. “Social Structure and Organizations.” In Handbook of Organizations
, ed. March, James, 142
–93. Chicago
: Rand-McNally
.Vogel, Ezra F.;
1967
. “Voluntarism and Social Control.” In Soviet and Chinese Communism: Similarities and Differences
, ed. Treadgold, Donald, 168
–84. Seattle
: University of Washington Press
.Walder, Andrew G.
1981
a. Work and Authority in Chinese Industry. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan
.Walder, Andrew G.
1981
b. “Participative Management and Worker Control in China
.” Sociology of Work and Occupations
8
(May): 224
–51.Whyte, Martin K.
1974
. Small Groups and Political Rituals in China
. Berkeley
: University of California Press
.Whyte, Martin K., and Parish, William L.. Forthcoming.
Urban Life in Contemporary China
. Chicago
: University of Chicago Press
.Wolf, Eric R.;
1977
. “Kinship, Friendship, and Patron-Client Relations in Complex Societies.” In Friends, Followers, and Factions; A Reader in Political Clientelism
, ed. Schmidt, Steffen W., Scott, James C., Landé, Carl, and Guasti, Laura, 167
–77. Berkeley
: University of California Press
.Wrong, Dennis H.
1980
. Power: Its Forms, Bases, and Uses
. New York
: Harper
.Shulian, Zhou and Senmu, Lin.
1980
. “Tantan Zhuzhai Wenti” [On the housing problem]. Renmin Ribao (5 August): 5.Copyright © Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1983
1983
