ILO, Extraterritoriality and Labour Protection in Republican Shanghai

Abstract

This article examines the role and interplay of various actors, such as the International Labour Organisation, the Chinese government, the City government of Greater Shanghai, the Shanghai Municipal Council, Chinese and foreign enterprises, and labour activists in their endeavours to promote labour protection in Shanghai during the Republican era. The study reveals that the labour issue in the Republican era was conceptualized prominently as a political issue, despite its self-evident humanitarian nature and that enactment and implementation of labour law were closely intermingled with China’s efforts towards national liberation from colonialism and imperialism. The origination of labour law development in Republican China was largely due to competition with the colonial powers concerning regulatory authority over industrial conditions and arose out of the desire to contain colonial expansion in China. The ensuing contest between the Chinese authorities and the colonial powers over the authority of Factory Law enforcement also shed light on the actual interplay between the political and humanitarian conceptions of labour. Nevertheless, humanitarian vocabularies and commitment by the International Labour Organisation lent considerable political legitimacy to China’s claim to sovereignty in relation to labour protection. Engaging in the humanitarian cause of labour protection also reinforced the political process of state building in China.