Marxist Analysis of Modern China

On January 25 the New York Times published an article entitled: Losing Ground- China’s Leaders Manage Class Conflict Carefully. The article begins by comparing the Chinese commercial hub of Guangdong to the 19th century English commercial hub of Manchester, whose poor working conditions and division of labor and capital worked as a prime example for Marx’s critique of capitalism. Much like Manchester, Guangdong’s (and China’s) industrial growth depends on cheap labor that attracts capital, in this case from multinational corporations who want to maximize profits. Demand for cheap labor in Guangdong has caused the population to increase by 10% over the past decade. On average these new workers make $50 to $70 dollars a month. This average wage has not changed since 1993 unless you consider the fact that these wages buy less today than they did ten years ago. Although China has attracted large amounts of foreign investment, become the largest exporter to the U.S. in Asia and developed a middle class, the benefits of this growth have not helped improve the lives of the 800 million Chinese who are farmers and factory or construction workers. This has caused political groups in China to criticize the economic policies of the government, one stating that the Chinese have “colonized their own citizens”. Life has become so bad that some Communist Party officials feel that social unrest is inevitable, perhaps even another revolution. In response the Chinese government has said they would increase workers wages and stop their abuse of workers but many believe that nothing will be done. Considering the path that China has followed over the past decade it seems as if this reform is unlikely. With their minds only on growth the government sees workers rights and environmental protection as “threats to investment”. Adding to the problem, workers are often not paid for work done for the state, instead the money is just pocketed by management, work sites do not have the proper safety equipment, and workers are forced to work 12 hour shifts often 7 days a week all while living in shared quarters with no hot water or air conditioning. Guangdong has minimum requirement of a 40 hour work week, a minimum wage of roughly $72 a month, while also offering medical insurance and pensions these formalities are easily overlooked and avoided by manufacturers. When workers complain that their rights are being violated they are “slapped down.” Unable to help are the unions that are required for factories with over 100 workers, they are often never formed, while non-governmental unions are ignored. With all of this in mind many Chinese officials still believe that the free market or capitalism is the answer to all of China’s labor problems, only if they can control it. In their drive for growth through capitalism, Marx would say that China has unwittingly set in motion sociohistorical forces that it can no longer control, calling into existence the class that will end China’s oppressive rule over its people- the proletariat.

The Marxist theories that are relevant are those outlined in the Manifesto of the Communist Party, specifically his theories regarding history as a series of class struggles, the development of the proletariat and bourgeois and the idea social evolutionism. According to Marx, through modern industry and capitalism two classes are created: the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The proletariat class is represented by modern wage earners who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to selling their labor in order to live. The bourgeois are the owners of the means of production and the employers of wage laborers or proletariats. Both of these groups are represented in the article, proletariats being the peasant working class of China and the bourgeois being the multinational corporations and the Chinese government. Also represented in the article are the independent Chinese capitalists that are associated with the Chinese service industry, this is ultimately china’s urban middle class. The government that is controlled by the bourgeoisie claims to protect the common interest and formally treats everyone the same, but in reality what the government does has the effect of promoting the interests of the bourgeoisie by creating conditions that make markets work. This is evident in the governments record of ignoring workers rights, non-enforcement of government “standards” for workers, and ineffective state controlled unions. Eventually through capitalism a period of crisis occurs, an epidemic of overproduction and under consumption. With losses in profits the capitalists must adapt and find new ways to make profits. How does the bourgeois overcome these crises? “On the one hand by enforced destruction of a mass of productive forces; on the other, by the conquest of new markets, and by the more thorough exploitation of the old ones”. (Marx, 1847:19) What Marx means