IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecoind/v40y2019i1p132-155.html

Labour research under coercive authoritarianism: Comparative reflections on fieldwork challenges in China

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Fuchs

    (SOAS University of London, UK)

  • Patricia Fuk-Ying Tse

    (University of Warwick, UK)

  • Xiaojun Feng

    (University of Oxford, UK)

Abstract

This article examines conditions for the conduct of qualitative research on labour and industrial relations in China since the shift to a coercive form of authoritarian governance in 2012. In comparing the experiences of three doctoral students from Europe, Hong Kong and mainland China respectively who conducted fieldwork in China between 2015 and 2017, the article argues that coercive authoritarianism has significantly increased the challenges of fieldwork, resulting in a need for inventive coping strategies. The study highlights a need to establish informal networks and reciprocal trust relationships, and points to the elevated importance of ethical considerations in fieldwork on labour and industrial relations in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Fuchs & Patricia Fuk-Ying Tse & Xiaojun Feng, 2019. "Labour research under coercive authoritarianism: Comparative reflections on fieldwork challenges in China," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 40(1), pages 132-155, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:40:y:2019:i:1:p:132-155
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X18780337
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0143831X18780337
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0143831X18780337?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. J. Paul Goode & Ariel I. Ahram, 2016. "Special Issue Editors’ Introduction: Observing Autocracies from the Ground Floor," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 97(4), pages 823-833, December.
    2. Shervin Malekzadeh, 2016. "Paranoia and Perspective, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Start Loving Research in the Islamic Republic of Iran," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 97(4), pages 862-875, December.
    3. Cyanne E. Loyle, 2016. "Overcoming Research Obstacles in Hybrid Regimes: Lessons from Rwanda," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 97(4), pages 923-935, December.
    4. Ariel I. Ahram & J. Paul Goode, 2016. "Researching Authoritarianism in the Discipline of Democracy," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 97(4), pages 834-849, December.
    5. Marie-Eve Reny, 2016. "Authoritarianism as a Research Constraint: Political Scientists in China," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 97(4), pages 909-922, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fuk Ying Tse, 2023. "Learning about Pay at Work: A Labour Process Approach to Pay Transparency," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(5), pages 1147-1164, October.
    2. Eleonore Kofman & Maggy Lee & Tommy Tse, 2023. "China and the Internationalisation of the Sociology of Contemporary Work and Employment," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1070-1086, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhenjie Yuan & Yulin Xie & Jun (Justin) Li & Jie Li & Rong Yang, 2022. "Learning to Succeed? Interplay between Ethnic Identity, National Identity, and Students’ Perception on Social Mobility in a Xinjiang Class School of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-14, April.
    2. Al-Noor Abdullah & Sanzidur Rahman, 2021. "Social Impacts of a Mega-Dam Project as Perceived by Local, Resettled and Displaced Communities: A Case Study of Merowe Dam, Sudan," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-32, September.
    3. Carr, Olivia G. & Jilani-Hyler, Nadia & Murray, Gregg R., 2022. "Identifying factors related to school closures due to COVID-19 in the Middle East and North Africa region," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    4. Zhang, Shize, 2025. "Creating marginality, building resilience: Tourism and everyday life in a Chinese surfing village," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    5. Mariam Mufti, 2018. "What Do We Know about Hybrid Regimes after Two Decades of Scholarship?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(2), pages 112-119.
    6. Gregg R Murray & Joshua Rutland, 2022. "Prioritizing public health? Factors affecting the issuance of stay-at-home orders in response to COVID-19 in Africa," PLOS Global Public Health, Public Library of Science, vol. 2(1), pages 1-30, January.
    7. Davide Cantoni & David Y. Yang & Noam Yuchtman & Y. Jane Zhang, 2017. "Are Protests Games of Strategic Complements or Substitutes? Experimental Evidence from Hong Kong's Democracy Movement," NBER Working Papers 23110, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Thomas Ambrosio & Jakob Tolstrup, 2019. "How do we tell authoritarian diffusion from illusion? Exploring methodological issues of qualitative research on authoritarian diffusion," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(6), pages 2741-2763, November.
    9. Mariam Mufti, 2018. "What Do We Know about Hybrid Regimes after Two Decades of Scholarship?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(2), pages 112-119.
    10. Schlumberger, Oliver, 2021. "Puzzles of political change in the Middle East: Political liberalisation, authoritarian resilience and the question of systemic change," IDOS Discussion Papers 5/2021, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    11. Davide Cantoni & David Y Yang & Noam Yuchtman & Y Jane Zhang, 2019. "Protests as Strategic Games: Experimental Evidence from Hong Kong's Antiauthoritarian Movement," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(2), pages 1021-1077.
    12. Rode, Philipp & Terrefe, Biruk & da Cruz, Nuno F., 2020. "Cities and the governance of transport interfaces: Ethiopia's new rail systems," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 76-94.
    13. repec:ehl:lserod:100316 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Ali Honari & Jasper Muis, 2021. "Refraining or Resisting: Responses of Green Movement Supporters to Repression During the 2013 Iranian Presidential Elections," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S5), pages 106-118, July.
    15. Deborah L Wheeler, 2023. "Quick immersions and the study of Middle East politics," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 26(2), pages 125-143, June.
    16. Al-Noor Abdullah & Sanzidur Rahman & Stephen Essex & James Benhin, 2020. "Economic Contributions of Mega-Dam Infrastructure as Perceived by Local and Displaced Communities: A Case Study of Merowe Dam, Sudan," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-25, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:40:y:2019:i:1:p:132-155. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ekhist.uu.se/english.htm .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.