M. Warner - Böcker

This book examines the role of trade unions vis-à-vis management in the People's Republic of China from 1949 to the present day. It deals with the evolution, reform and consolidation of the Chinese labour movement and, particularly, the role of the main arm of Chinese organized labour, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) at both the apex and grass-roots levels. It not only covers the recent history of Chinese trade unions but also assesses their strategy and structure and membership as well as their legal context. After this, it goes on to consider their role vis-à-vis management in both the State-owned as well as the foreign-funded sectors. Last, it compares their activities with organized labour in three Overseas Chinese societies, namely Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.

This book analyses the management of human resources in Chinese industry, covering the period from 1949 to present, particularly focusing on the period of economic reforms in the 1980s and early 1990s. This arrangement is now under threat from the recent labour reforms and the emergence of a nascent labour market.

This study attempts to deal with how China's economic reforms have undermined the "iron rice bowl" system which since the 1950s has provided both "lifetime employment" and "cradle to the grave" welfare for many workers, particularly those in state-owned enterprises. It starts by examining the background of these reforms and how they have changed workplace relations in the Chinese economy; it also looks at key themes relating to the role of trade unions and the management of human resources in both state-owned and joint-venture firms. A number of illustrative case studies involving industrial relations and human resource management are set out.

This multi-contributor volume reviews the state-of-the-art in this area of polymer structure. It includes crystalline, amorphous and liquid crystalline polymers. This book should be of interest to polymer physicists, chemists, materials scientists in R&D, university and industry, working on solid polymers, and students of graduate level upwards in the above subjects.

First Published in 1990, The Bible as Rhetoric explores the ways in which the persuasive strategies employed in the biblical texts relate (both positively and negatively) to their preoccupations with religious and historical truth. The book contains pioneering interdisciplinary papers that clarify what is at issue in the apparently competing claims that the Bible should be read ‘as literature’ and ‘as scripture’.Uniquely, the volume brings together philosophers, literary critics, biblical scholars, theologians, and historians of ideas who combine the best biblical and historical scholarship with a range of contemporary approaches to the study of texts, from the deconstructive and the feminist through the Wittgensteinian to those of the heirs of the tradition of practical criticism. The volume is of importance both to those interested in the applications of contemporary literary theory and to all those concerned with the relation between religious and secular readings of the Bible.

First Published in 1990, The Bible as Rhetoric explores the ways in which the persuasive strategies employed in the biblical texts relate (both positively and negatively) to their preoccupations with religious and historical truth. The book contains pioneering interdisciplinary papers that clarify what is at issue in the apparently competing claims that the Bible should be read ‘as literature’ and ‘as scripture’.Uniquely, the volume brings together philosophers, literary critics, biblical scholars, theologians, and historians of ideas who combine the best biblical and historical scholarship with a range of contemporary approaches to the study of texts, from the deconstructive and the feminist through the Wittgensteinian to those of the heirs of the tradition of practical criticism. The volume is of importance both to those interested in the applications of contemporary literary theory and to all those concerned with the relation between religious and secular readings of the Bible.