Beyond Repression and Resistance: Worker agency and corporatism in occupied Nanjing

• Published in: Modern Asian studies Vol. 56; no. 1; pp. 309 - 349
• Main Author: HOWARD, JOSHUA H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.01.2022
• Subjects: Arbitration; Artisans; Autonomy; Building trades; Capital; Central government; Committees; Corporatism; Disputes; Fascism; Handicrafts; Historiography; Inflation; Labor disputes; Labor unions; Legislation; Loyalty; Massacres; Military occupations; Military personnel; Military police; Nanjing Massacre-1937; Nationalism; Oppression; Reorganization; Resistance; Social activism; Social movements; Social order; Sovereignty; Trade; War; Workers; China; Japan
• ISSN: 0026-749X; 1469-8099
• DOI: 10.1017/S0026749X20000487

In the aftermath of the Nanjing Massacre, one way in which Wang Jingwei's Reorganized National Government sought to impose social order was to implement a corporatist labour strategy. Inspired by European fascist theory and building on the pre-war Nationalist-Government labour legislation, corporatism sought to prevent union autonomy, stifle class-based sentiment, and undermine the pursuit of class interests whether on the part of capitalists or of workers. It aimed to ensure government control and loyalty to the state, and promote production. An analysis of approximately 50 records of labour–capital disputes mediated by the Shehui yundong zhidao weiyuanhui (Social Movement Guidance Committee) during the early 1940s suggests that the Wang regime carved out a sphere autonomous from Japanese oversight and exerted state control over commercial associations and artisans employed in the handicraft sector. Even so, worker actions show that workers did not trust corporatism to provide social unity. Contrary to much of the Chinese historiography on occupied Nanjing that emphasizes either social repression or resistance, one finds that state authorities in most cases granted trade unions’ economic demands for higher wages. The state provided workers with a modicum of agency while pressuring commercial associations to accept worker demands. In response to inflation and to preserve their breadwinner status, male artisans actively participated in the arbitration process. Workers’ agency did not reflect an endorsement of Wang Jingwei's regime or of corporatism. It was a tacit form of consent as a means of survival.