The Contradictions of Market Socialism : Labour, Capital and Welfare in Privatising China and Vietnam.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pun, Ngai.

Series:

Research in Comparative and Global Social Policy Series

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (307 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Bristol : Policy Press, 2026.

Summary:

Connecting labour and welfare transformations to broader political-economic processes - including land restructuring and financialisation - the book offers an unparalleled comparative perspective on two of the world's most important manufacturing hubs.

Contents:

Front Cover

The Contradictions of Market Socialism

Series Information

The Contradictions of Market Socialism Labour, Capital and Welfare in Privatising China and Vietnam

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

Series editors' preface

List of figures and tables

Notes on contributors

Foreword

Intellectual encounter

Reflections on market socialism as an oxymoron

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Hyperflexible accumulation -​ labour, social reproduction and market socialist contradictions

Introduction

The chapters

Part I: Reproducing labour in hyperflexible accumulation

Part II: Rural-​urban connectivity and new trajectories of labour mobility

Part III: Marketising social provisioning, degenerating social contract

Part IV: Contestation and disengagement

On contradictions and hyperflexibilisation

Labour, capital and welfare in the market socialist economy

Flexibilising labour, privatising responsibilities

Rural-​urban connectivity, land restructuring and new trajectories of labour mobility

Marketising social provisioning, degenerating social contract

Contestation and disengagement

Conclusion

Notes

References

Part I Reproducing labour in hyperflexible accumulation

1 The broken dream of autonomy: precarious working conditions in Ho Chi Minh City's platform economy

Research methodology

Key findings

The gig economy paradox: from 'partners' to precarious workers

The illusion of flexibility: long hours and economic dependency

Instability and insecurity: income challenges and lack of social welfare

2 The rise of the gig economy and the social protection of gig workers in China

Theoretical framework: embedded vs disembedded markets

Findings

Contract signing status of digital workers.

Social insurance status of digital workers

Digital rights, atomisation and lack of self-​organisation among gig workers

Note

3 Flexible accumulation, division of labour and hierarchisation of care at global factories in Vietnam

Flexible accumulation and division of labour

Hierarchy of care and welfare provision within the production network

The appearance of care and corporate image in a socialist country

A caring employer

An exemplary global investor in a socialist country

An ethical global corporation

4 Producing the flexible working subject: seasonal bonus, the hyper-​flexibilisation of labour and welfare arrangements of migrant factory workers in China

Labour market flexibilisation and workers' struggle over social protection

Research methods

The rise of fanfei and the hyper-​flexible labour regime

Why workers prefer seasonal bonus work over formal work

The unattractive terms of formal work

The lure of hyper-​flexibility

Welfare struggles under hyper-​flexibilisation

Part II Rural-​urban connectivity and new trajectories of labour mobility

5 High-​tech, low security: Vietnam's electronics boom and the crisis of reproduction

From modern factories to precarious lives: capitalist accumulation and the persistence of semi-​proletarianisation

Development of electronics in Vietnam

Precarious lives in the Vietnamese electronics industry

Contractual insecurity and labour discipline

Health, stress and workplace pressures

Infrastructural gaps and reproductive burdens

Remittances and social reproduction

Post-​industrial work and the future of welfare

Preparing for life after the factory.

Long-​term plans and structural constraints

6 Transforming migrant household reproduction: commuterisation and land commodification in central China

Industrial relocation, land restructuring and the disappearing welfare function of rural land

The making of commuters: phase-​by-​phase land loss and different market participation among resettled residents

Social insurance as a source of uncertainty in commuters' care arrangements

7 Rural migrants, housing politics and the limits of care in Shenzhen

Migration, Shenzhen and informal housing

The welfare void

Housing formalisation, Vanke and the 'young white collars'

Housing centralisation, state-​owned enterprises and 'the talents'

The changing regime of welfare exclusion

Part III Marketising social provisioning, degenerating social contract

8 Weakening of social protection in Vietnam: labour legislation, cicada capital and civil society

Empirical evidence: informal labour and cicada capitalism

Cicada capitalism and weak state enforcement

' Kho ả ng tr ố ng ph á p lu ậ t ': labour code 'loopholes' and informal employment increase

Eroding social insurance coverage: the 2014 vs 2024 Social Insurance Laws

Weakening state enforcement of social insurance laws

Declining influence of civil society organisations and pre-​empting labour activism

9 'Building the giant nests to host the eagle': housing and family organisation of FDI workers in Ho Chi Minh City

Research background: housing welfare for FDI workers in Ho Chi Minh City

Housing and labour in transition: spatial mismatches and social reproduction.

Job-​housing mismatches in transition economies

The nexus between housing, family organisation and social reproduction

Study areas

Site surveys and semi-​structured interviews

Job-​housing mismatch in industrial parks in Ho Chi Minh City

Impact of rental neighbourhood on worker's social advancement

Relationships between housing consumption and labour reproduction

10 From welfare to real estate: a generational perspective of the financialisation of Chinese steelworkers' housing

Housing and welfare post-​1949

Housing and welfare in the reform era

Financialisation of housing and welfare

Land and housing financialisation

Housing Provident Fund as financialised welfare

Intergenerational wealth transfer and household financialisation

Gendered dynamics of homeownership

11 Collateral deposits, the bank of the poor and the caring state: Vietnamese labour migration to the Republic of Korea

Labour migration from Vietnam to Republic of Korea contextualised

Labour export as part of development policy: a historical perspective

From 'labour export' to 'sending workers to work overseas on contract': an overview

Vietnam Bank for Social Policies: the 'bank of the poor'

Entrusted loan management mechanisms

Part IV Contestation and disengagement

12 Early withdrawal of pension and contestations over the right to social protection in Vietnam

The political economy of precarious employment and welfare

Early withdrawal of pension

Debates over proposed revisions of social insurance law

13 The narratives of sacrifice: the Third Front and the left-​behind

Introduction.

The spirit of sacrifice: good people and good horses to Kaili

Sanxian : the Third Front and three sacrifices

San buxu : three not-​allowed as official recognition

Index.

Notes:

This eBook is made available Open Access under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-4473-7924-1

9781447379249

OCLC:

1579265691