Communist Neo-Traditionalism: Work and Authority in Chinese Industry

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Summary: China's failed worker's paradise
Review: Despite the title, "Communist Neo-Traditionalism" finds that the Maoist state did in fact create a new social order in its state-owned factories. Unfortunately, this social order made workers more dependent on their managers than they had ever been under capitalism. This forced them to pursue clientelist strategies--currying favor with the boss was the only way to get a house, a watch, a bicycle, or a day off.

But the dependence was mutual. Unable to fire workers, and vulnerable to Mao-inspired anti-management political campaigns, the bosses were less and less able to get the employees to do anything at all. These problems persisted even through the market-reforms of the Deng period, ending only with the cracking of the "iron rice bowl" in the 90s.