The Social Life of Chinese Labor
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20054576 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Adam Mckeown (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Pages | 62-83 |
| Publication date | 2011-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Chinese Circulations (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Duke University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1215/9780822393573-004 |
| OpenAlex | W2484737674 |
| ISBN | 9780822393573 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 5 |
Was Chinese labor a commodity? This question should be hard to avoid in a discussion of Chinese traders and commodities, because the mobilization and exchange of labor were indispensable aspects of expanding markets and trade. Not only were migrant laborers important producers, consumers, and transporters of goods, but the trade in labor itself was a major source of profit for many merchants. But thinking about labor as a commodity quickly raises analytical difficulties. The rapid expansion of marketand commodity-based cultures over the past three centuries has included an insistence that people are free agents who exchange things, not things that can be exchanged. Imagining labor as a personal possession that can be separated from the body and voluntarily exchanged partly overcomes these difficulties. But the terms under which such exchanges should take place remain a major issue of contention, with deep implications for how we interpret the expansion of capitalism over the past three centuries
Demographic economics · Economics · Labour economics · Sociology · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,36 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2024 (10) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |