State and Knowledge Production: the Slow Development of Industrial Relations Field in China

Abstract

The paper explores the professionalization process of Chinese social scientists interested in industrial relations. Content analysis of more than 7,000 publication records in two top Chinese-language academic journals during 1985-2011 suggests that the academic research on industrial relations in China has lagged behind rising labor problems. Additionally, IR research is less responsive to the state and transnational private regulation of labor standards. These general trends, however, differ between sociologists and management scholars. Sociologists are more likely to engage in IR research, especially on two important phenomena during China’s economic reform: those laid off by SOEs and migrant workers employed in private and foreign invested firms. In contrast, management scholars tend to examine motivational factors that improve team performance in semi-professional workplaces. I argue that an integration of both perspectives is important for the development of an IR field in China, especially given the recent state effort to establish stand-alone academic units devoted to IR research.