5. The Context of Toleration (3): Workers’ Control on Production

“Due to local electricity shortages, factories in certain areas usually had their ‘weekend’ days in turn. That is why the factory had its own unique weekly calendar.” Explanation by interviewee Ni Tongzheng.

Interview with Liu Chengmin.

Interview with Zhu Guiqin.

This internal cooperation of working groups should be viewed with caution. Burawoy (1979) recognized the positive effect of immobility within a firm on the development of cooperation among workers. By studying American companies, he argued that “the greater the mobility between jobs, the less opportunity there is to develop the necessary relationship of trust that would counteract tension and competition between workers”. In Burawoy’s opinion, however, it might be necessary to further clarify that the trusting relationship in the working group might not necessarily be related to altruistic values. The trust between group leaders and their workers, instead, might be more appropriately understood as them sharing the common knowledge that one side is currently cooperating and will do so as long as it appears that the other side will.

Interview with Fu Qianwei.

Interview with Cao Mingshen.

Interview with Chen Youbai.

Interview with Fu Jinhai.

Interview with Gu Jiwei.

Interview with Gu Jiwei.

Interview with Chen Mingzhen.