Hegemonic Transformation

Elaine Sio-ieng Hui is the Assistant Professor at the School of Labor and Employment Relations, the Pennsylvania State University, USA. She has published in peer-reviewed journals, such as British Journal of Industrial Relations, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Journal of Industrial Relations, China Quarterly, and International Labor Review.  Her research interests include the state, industrial relations, laws, worker collective actions, civil society and social welfare system in China.

“The rich details and careful and nuanced analysis produce a multifaceted portrait of the various ways Chinese migrant workers engage/disengage, negotiate or challenge the state-constructed legal hegemony. The result is a compelling and nuanced argument that elucidates the wide variety of possibilities and sheds new light … . Hegemonic Transformation makes an important contribution to the literature and will be essential reading for anyone who wants to better understand Chinese labour politics, the political economy of Chinese market … .” (Lu Zhang, Global Labour Journal, Vol. 9 (03), September, 2018)“Hui has produced an important contribution to the literature on labour politics, civil society, and legal reform in China, and her deep and systematic theoretical engagement brings fresh perspective to these issues. Hui’s work should be required reading for anyone interested in the academically and practically crucial question of why Chinese workers submit to their ownexploitation.” (Eli Friedman, The China Quarterly, Vol. 234, June, 2018)“Hegemonic Transformation represents an important contribution to the field of Chinese labor studies. Not only does it convincingly address the fundamental paradox of labor in contemporary China (i.e., the coexistence of blatant labor abuses with well-developed labor legislation), it also indicates promising new avenues for future research. I highly recommend it.” (Ivan Franceschini, The China Journal, Vol. 81, January, 2018)

• 1. Putting the Chinese State in Its Place: The March from Passive Revolution to Hegemony.- 2. The Gramscian Approach to the Chinese State.- 3. The Legal Foundation for Changing State-Capital-Labour Relations.- 4. Workers’ Active Consent.-  5. Workers’ Passive Consent.- 6. Workers’ Refusal to Consent.- 7. Conclusion.