Fundamental Labour Rights
in China –
Legal Implementation and
Cultural Logic
by Ulla Liukkunen
(Editor), Yifeng Chen (Editor)
This volume gathers
together chapters that address the theme of implementing fundamental labour
rights in China. It explores the legal framework as well as key institutions
and other actors along with the socio-economic context involved in
interpretation, implementation, enforcement and overall promotion of
fundamental labour rights in China. As a collection of chapters, it assembles
comparative and mutually complementary perspectives and insights by distinguished
scholars from China, Europe and the United States. With its broad perspective
on implementation, the book discusses the most topical challenges to realizing
fundamental labour rights in China.
China was among the
founding members of the ILO. With the regulatory approach of the ILO,
fundamental labour rights have gained a new foothold as a key pillar in
managing the social dimension of globalization. The development of fundamental
labour rights protection in China can be viewed as part of a larger development
within China’s domestic economic and social transition as well as its
integration into the global economic system. While China has ratified four of
the eight ILO core conventions, the challenge of effective implementation and
enforcement in the domestic context remains. With its in-depth research on
fundamental labour rights in the particular cultural context of the Chinese
experience, this book studies Chinese labour law from multiple perspectives, at
the same time examining the wider role of international labour standards in
developing Chinese law and society.
This volume is a
remarkable enlargement of existing scholarship on international labour
standards, on the one hand, and fundamental labour rights in China on the
other. These chapters thoroughly analyse the legal and institutional framework
for implementing labour law in China. Among the topics covered are fundamental
labour rights including freedom from forced labour, prohibition of use of child
labour and non-discrimination. In addition, this volume benefits from
socio-historical observations on the cultural logics that inform implementation
of fundamental labour rights in China in which the history and current
development of Chinese labour law are equally reflected with substantive depth.
