Working Class Formation in Taiwan

"Theoretically informed and rich in empirical findings, this book provides a vivid portrait of the inter-class and intra-class dynamics of Taiwanese workers and their movements. The book compellingly tells a story of workers' resistance under the authoritarian rule and the upsurge of their movements with democratization of Taiwan. Ming-sho Ho's work also makes an important contribution to comparative studies of labor movements, especially to the under-researched area of comparative studies among non-Western countries." - Akira Suzuki, Professor and Deputy Director, The Ohara Institute for Social Research, Hosei University, Japan "This book truly illuminates some of the peculiarities of Taiwan and how it has been buffeted by a succession of intersecting external and internal oppressions. The beauty of this history of working class 'resistance' lies in the specification of the formation, fracturing, and periodization of the Taiwanese working class through a constant comparison with a wide range of other national working classes while at the same time recognizing its internal heterogeneity through a detailed comparison, based on careful research, of working class organization in sugar and oil refining." Michael Burawoy, Honorary Distinguished Professor, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan "This book brings readers on a sociological journey of the formation, transformation, and reformation of workers consciousness in state-owned enterprises of Taiwan since World War II. In what is described as 'fractured solidarity', these workers in the more or less privileged working class sub-segment have exercised guanxi, ritualism, petty bargaining, and resistance so as to form their 'class awareness'." - Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao, Distinguished Research Fellow and Director, Academia Sinica, Taiwan

This book offers a fresh look at Taiwan's state workers in from the postwar period to the present day and examines the rise and fall of labor insurgency in the past two decades. Challenging the conventional image of docile working class, it unearths a series of workers resistance, hidden and public, in a high authoritarian era.This book offers a fresh look at Taiwan's state workers in from the postwar period to the present day and examines the rise and fall of labor insurgency in the past two decades. Challenging the conventional image of docile working class, it unearths a series of workers resistance, hidden and public, in a high authoritarian era.