Abstract
The conclusion to the book summarises its main argument, that is, the relationship between law and morality is fluid, and values derived from law and moral norms can complement and overlap with each other in workers’ claim-making. It situates the findings on Vietnamese workers within broader literature on labour resistance in post-socialist regimes and socio-legal scholarship on legal consciousness and social change. The findings of this book pave way for an analytical reframing of law in post-socialist societies. Despite many limitations in its enforcement, state law brings about social change through informing and shaping people’s expectations. This subtle effect of law does not always lead to overt actions or articulations to contest problematic practices, but is an important indication of increasing consciousness of fairness, justice, and rights.
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Notes
- 1.
Since workers in my study do not demand for new rights to be recognised in the law or for rights that challenge existing state laws and policies, their consciousness might be considered as similar to what Elizabeth Perry described as ‘rules consciousness’ to refer to the nature of citizens’ claims and protests in China (2007; see also Li 2010). However, in another article, Perry made clear that she is critical of the depiction of rights that adopts a Western idea of citizen rights and, as such, overstates their political impact (2007, pp. 45–46). Perry instead offers an intricate discourse analysis of rights, drawing from Chinese philosophical thoughts, socialist propaganda, and fundamental social norms.
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Nguyen, T.P. (2019). Conclusion. In: Workplace Justice. Critical Studies of the Asia-Pacific. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3116-9_7
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