The changing environment for workers seems like a good prism through which to analyze the phenomenal changes that have occurred in China since the reforms began. In 1995, when I arrived in Guangdong at age 22, I wasn’t the only one looking for work. With the development of an export-oriented industry, young Chinese farmers began coming to the Pearl River delta, where most of the new factories were located.
There weren’t that many factories, and sometimes a dozen people applied for the same position. The factories could afford to choose. They wanted their workers to be between 18 and 25, who to comply with a set of very strict rules, all in appallingly unsafe conditions.
These conditions have changed little since the beginning of the millenium, when migration to the south peaked. But starting in 2002, large cities like Shanghai and Beijing ,as well as smaller ones like Jiangsu and Zhejiang, began to modernize. Then it was the West’s turn. The labor force began to disperse. Starting in 2005, the managers of the Guangdong factories noticed the first signs of a labor deficiency, which only got worse and, consequently, factory conditions were improved: higher salaries, renovated dormitories and lunchrooms, better recreational areas, less strict rules, paid vacation, protective measures, etc.
But this material improvement is not enough. A mingong always hopes that for fair work, he will be treated fairly, like any other citizen: rest, education for his children, and social security. He also wants to drink clean water, breathe clean air and eat healthy food. However, the economic development so far has come at the expense of our environment, leaving open too many of our social problems.
BOOK
China Now
Direction : Yann Layma
360 x 250 mm
192 pages
Punlisher: La Martinière
09 octobre 2014
ISBN 9782732448824
49 €
