Chinese labor in a Korean factory class, ethnicity, and productivity on the shop floor in globalizing China

305 Pages·2013·12.442 MB·English

by  Kim, Jaesok

Chinese Labor in a Korean Factory

Chinese Labor
in a Korean Factory
, ,
class ethnicity and productivity

on the shop floor in

globalizing china
Jaesok Kim

stanford university press
stanford, california
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
© 2013 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Stanford University
Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kim, Jaesok, author.
Chinese labor in a Korean factory : class, ethnicity, and productivity on the shop floor
in globalizing China / Jaesok Kim.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8047-8454-2 (cloth : alk. paper)
  1. Corporations, South Korean—China—Qingdao—Sociological aspects.
2. International business enterprises—China—Qingdao—Sociological aspects.
3. Clothing factories—China—Qingdao—Case studies. 4. Sweatshops—China—
Qingdao—Case studies. 5. Industrial relations—China—Qingdao—Case studies.
6. Labor and globalization—China—Qingdao—Case studies. 7. Business
anthropology—China—Qingdao—Case studies. I. Title.
HD2910.Z8Q365 2013
331.7'687095114—dc23
                      2012034936
ISBN 978-0-8047-8612-6 (electronic)
To my parents

Contents
List of Figures and Tables ix
Acknowledgments xi
1. Introduction 1
2. The Politics of Spatial Divisions
and the Living Environment 35
3. The Politics of Nationality, Ethnicity, and Status:
The Factory Office 67
4. The Making of Chinese Industrial Workers 98
5. Korean Management in a Chinese Workshop:
Economic Globalization and the Changing
Factory Regime 131
6. Pitfalls of Globalization: Local Connections
and Their Impact on the Factory Regime 167
7. Clash of the Global and the Local 191
8. Globalizing Capital and the Bleak Future
of Chinese Workers 223
Notes 245
References 255
Index 275

Figures and Tables
Figures
2-1. The Spatial Divisions at Nawon 41
2-2. Floor Plan of the Korean-Chinese Interpreters’ Room in Building A 47
2-3. Floor Plan of the Han-Chinese Workers’ Dormitories 52
3-1. Spatial Divisions of the Factory Main Building 71
4-1. The Shop floor of Nawon 99
4-2. Typical Stitching Posture of a Sewing Machine Operator 107
4-3. Notebook of a New Han-Chinese Worker 126
Tables
3-1. Organization of Main Office Personnel, June 2002 74
4-1. Organization of Workshop Personnel, 1997–2001 103
4-2. Outline of the Workshop Manual for New Workers 124
5-1. Organization of Shop-Floor Staff, 1996 135
5-2. Organization of Shop-Floor Staff, 1997 140
5-3. Assignment Plan of Industrial Trainees, 1997 146