State-Socialist Transition and Labour Relations in China

Abstract

One of the most important historical events in the last decade of the twentieth century has been the collapse of communist regimes throughout the world and the subsequent transitions from politically authoritarian and economic state socialist systems. Nobody expected this transition to be smooth, and the transition raises more questions than answers. Among the most critical questions is that of what to do with the previously interventionist (indeed, in some cases, totalitarian) state. From Moscow to Beijing, from Hanoi to Budapest, post-communist leaders are asking the same question — what is the proper role of the state in their emerging capitalist economies? Given its interventionist past, the state in socialist systems tends to be regarded as a multi-armed monster which not only suppresses people’s creative energies, but also stifles the market and competition. Its reduction and retreat seems to be a necessary condition for the transition to succeed. The experience of the past decade suggests, however, that such may not be a cure-all formula to remedy the inherited ills left by years of stagnant central planning. Far from a foregone conclusion, the state’s role in a transitional economy and society is still being shaped and defined.