MADE IN CHINA YEARBOOK 2018 DOG DAYS Edited by Ivan Franceschini and Nicholas Loubere with the Made in China Editorial Board Kevin Lin, Elisa Nesossi, Andrea E. Pia, and Christian Sorace © The Australian National University (as represented by the Australian Centre on China in the World) First published April 2019 by ANU Press The Australian National University Acton ACT 2601, Australia Email: [email protected] Available to download for free at press.anu.edu.au ISBN (print): 9781760462925 ISBN (online): 9781760462932 WorldCat (print): 1091373612 WorldCat (online): 1091373755 DOI: 10.22459/MIC.04.2019 This title is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). The full licence terms are available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ legalcode Note on Visual Material All images in this publication have been fully accredited. As this is a non-commercial publication, certain images have been used under a Creative Commons licence. These images have been sourced from Flickr, Wikipedia Commons and the copyright owner of each original picture is acknowledged and indicated in the source information. Design Concept & Typesetting by Tommaso Facchin; Illustrations by Marc Verdugo. Proofreading by Sharon Strange. The Australian Centre on China in the World is an initiative of the Commonwealth Government of Australia and The Australian National University. This project has been produced with the financial assistance of the Australian Centre on China in the World (CIW), Australian National University, and the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 654852. The views expressed are those of the individual authors and do not represent the views of the European Union, CIW, or the institutions to which the authors are affiliated. Sirius rises late in the dark, liquid sky On summer nights, star of stars, Orion’s Dog they call it, brightest Of all, but an evil portent, bringing heat And fevers to suffering humanity Homer, The Iliad (Translated by Stanley Lombardo) THE STRUGGLES OF TEMPORARY AGENCY WORKERS IN XI’S CHINA (P. 50) ZHANG Lu ROBOT THREAT OR ROBOT DIVIDEND? A STRUGGLE BETWEEN TWO LINES (P. 54) TABLE OF HUANG Yu A ‘PESSOPTIMISTIC’ VIEW OF CHINESE LABOUR NGOS (P. 60) CONTENTS Ivan FRANCESCHINI Kevin LIN THE JASIC STRIKE AND THE FUTURE OF THE CHINESE LABOUR MOVEMENT (P. 64) ZHANG Yueran THE JASIC MOBILISATION: A HIGH TIDE FOR INTRODUCTION (PP. 8–13) THE CHINESE LABOUR MOVEMENT? (P. 72) DOG DAYS (P. 8) AU Loong Yu BRIEFS (PP. 14–25) TO THE SOIL: THE LABOUR JANUARY–MARCH 2018 (P. 15) APRIL–JUNE 2018 (P. 18) OF RURAL TRANSFORMATION JULY–SEPTEMBER 2018 (P. 21) IN CHINA (PP. 76–115) OCTOBER–DECEMBER 2018 (P. 23) CHINA’S LAND REFORMS AND THE LOGIC OF CAPITAL ACCUMULATION (P. 78) Jane HAYWARD ANYBODY OUT THERE? THE MANUFACTURED MODERNITY: DWELLING, CHINESE LABOUR MOVEMENT LABOUR, AND ENCLOSURE IN CHINA’S UNDER XI (PP. 26–75) POVERTY RESETTLEMENTS (P. 82) CHANGES AND CONTINUITY: FOUR Sarah ROGERS DECADES OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS IN CHINA (P. 28) MANAGING THE ANTHROPOCENE: Chris King-Chi CHAN THE LABOUR OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGENERATION (P. 86) CHINA’S LABOUR MOVEMENT IN John Aloysius ZINDA TRANSITION (P. 32) Geoffrey CROTHALL BEYOND PROLETARIANISATION: THE EVERYDAY POLITICS OF CHINESE MIGRANT GONGYOU, THE NEW DANGEROUS CLASS LABOUR (P. 92) IN CHINA (P. 40) Thomas Sætre JAKOBSEN YU Chunsen INSIDE WORK: THE HIDDEN EXPLOITATION RECONFIGURING SUPPLY CHAINS: OF RURAL WOMEN IN MODERN CHINA TRANSREGIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND (P. 98) INFORMAL MANUFACTURING IN SOUTHERN Tamara JACKA CHINA (P. 44) Nellie CHU RURAL TRANSFORMATIONS AND EVICTIONS AND THE RIGHT TO THE CITY URBANISATION: IMPRESSIONS FROM THE (P. 156) NINGBO INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY Kevin LIN WEEK (P. 104) Marina SVENSSON OUTSOURCING COERCION AND SOCIAL CONTROL (P. 158) DOMESTIC ARCHAEOLOGY (P. 108) Lynette H. ONG Daniele DAINELLI JUSTICE RESTORED UNDER XI JINPING: A POLITICAL PROJECT (P. 162) ON A CHINESE SCREEN: MEDIA, Elisa NESOSSI POWER, AND VOICE IN CHINA (PP. 116–47) CONFESSIONS MADE IN CHINA (P. 166) CHANGING REPRESENTATIONS OF CHINA’S Magnus FISKESJÖ WORKERS (P. 118) Wanning SUN WILL THE FUTURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS BE ‘MADE IN CHINA’? (P. 170) PLATFORM ECONOMIES: THE BOSS’S OLD Sarah M. BROOKS AND NEW CLOTHES (P. 122) Julie Yujie CHEN REMEMBERING LIU XIAOBO ONE YEAR ON (P. 176) RETHINKING ONLINE PRIVACY IN THE Jean-Philippe BÉJA CHINESE WORKPLACE: EMPLOYEE DISMISSALS OVER SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS XINJIANG TODAY: WANG ZHEN RIDES (P. 126) AGAIN? (P. 180) Mimi ZOU Tom CLIFF VISUALISING LABOUR AND LABOURSCAPES IN CHINA: FROM PROPAGANDA TO STATES OF EMERGENCY: SOCIALLY-ENGAGED PHOTOGRAPHY (P. 132) THE SICHUAN EARTHQUAKE Marina SVENSSON TEN YEARS ON (PP. 184–213) BE GRATEFUL TO THE PARTY! HOW TO DOCUMENTING CHINA’S INFLUENCE (P. 138) BEHAVE IN THE AFTERMATH OF A DISASTER David BANDURSKI (P. 186) Christian SORACE THE GLOBAL AGE OF THE ALGORITHM: SOCIAL CREDIT AND THE FINANCIALISATION THE WORLD IS YOURS! YOUTH AND OF GOVERNANCE IN CHINA (P. 142) CIVIC ENGAGEMENT FROM SICHUAN Nicholas LOUBERE TO PARKLAND (P. 190) Stefan BREHM Bin XU SICHUAN, YEAR ZERO? (P. 196) HUMAN RIGHTS MADE IN CHINA KANG Yi (PP. 148–83) BEIJING EVICTIONS: A WINTER’S TALE (P. 150) CIVIC TRANSFORMATION IN THE WAKE OF LI Qiaochu THE WENCHUAN EARTHQUAKE: STATE, SONG Jiani SOCIETY, AND THE INDIVIDUAL (P. 200) ZHANG Shuchi SUN Taiyi THE POWER OF THE SQUARE: FIGURING POST-WORKER SHENZHEN POST-EARTHQUAKE ACTIVISM (P. 257) IN MIANYANG (P. 206) Mary Ann O’DONNELL GAO Huan RURAL MIGRANT WORKERS IN DOCUMENTING THE EARTHQUAKE (P. 210) INDEPENDENT FILMS: REPRESENTATIONS Marina SVENSSON OF EVERYDAY AGENCY (P. 266) Eric FLORENCE WINDOW ON ASIA (PP. 214–43) PLASTIC CHINA: BEYOND WASTE IMPORTS ‘HUN SEN WON’T DIE, WORKERS WILL DIE’ (P. 274) THE GEOPOLITICS OF LABOUR IN THE Yvan SCHULZ CAMBODIAN CRACKDOWN (P. 216) Sabina LAWRENIUK THE LAST DAYS OF SHI YANG (P. 281) Ivan FRANCESCHINI MY RIGHTS HAVE BEEN LEFT BEHIND IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA: THE PREDICAMENT OF CHINESE OVERSEAS WORKERS (P. 220) CONTRIBUTORS (PP. 286–91) ZHANG Shuchi BIBLIOGRAPHY (PP. 292–332) ONLINE ACTIVISM AND SOUTH KOREA’S CANDLELIGHT MOVEMENT (P. 224) Hyejin KIM CHINA AND DEVELOPMENT AID: THE CASE OF ANTI-TRAFFICKING AND SEAFOOD IN SOUTHEAST ASIA (P. 228) Sverre MOLLAND ILLICIT ECONOMIES OF THE INTERNET: CLICK FARMING IN INDONESIA AND BEYOND (P. 232) Johan LINDQUIST CHINESE DIGITAL ECOSYSTEMS GO ABROAD: MYANMAR AND THE DIFFUSION OF CHINESE SMARTPHONES (P. 236) Elisa OREGLIA ULAANBAATAR, CITY OF THE FUTURE (P. 240) Christian SORACE WORK OF ARTS (PP. 244–85) COMMUNIST HIBERNATION (P. 246) Christian SORACE CRIME AND PUNISHMENT ON A CHINESE BORDER (P. 252) Suzanne SCOGGINS DOG DAYS INTRODUCTION As Homer’s words at the beginning of this Dog Days introduction make abundantly clear, Sirius has an ominous reputation. Since ancient times, Roman and Greeks linked the star with the hottest days of the year. They even coined an expression—‘dog days’—to indicate that span of Sirius rises late in the dark, liquid sky time in the summer of the northern hemisphere On summer nights, star of stars, when Sirius rose in conjunction with the sun. Orion’s Dog they call it, brightest Those were inauspicious days, characterised Of all, but an evil portent, bringing heat by heat, spells of dryness, thunderstorms, and And fevers to suffering humanity a sudden loss of energy and industriousness, if not outright madness. Curiously, it was in the Homer, The Iliad middle of the long, hot, and feverish dog days of the summer of 2018 that some workers at Shenzhen Jasic Technology took their chances ccording to the Chinese zodiac, and attempted to form an independent union to 2018 was the year of the ‘earthly challenge their employer. This brave action did Adog’. Legends about dogs abound not take long to provoke a coordinated response in Chinese mythology, but the most famous from the company and the local government, one undoubtedly is that of the ‘heavenly dog’ with the workers quickly being terminated, (tiangou). As the story goes, after divine archer beaten, and detained. The fever did not break Hou Yi shot down the nine suns that had there, however, as the governmental immune simultaneously risen up in the sky, the Queen response continued, triggered by solidarity Mother of the West decided to reward him groups springing up both inside and outside the with the elixir of immortality. Unfortunately country in support of the arrested workers and for him, his wife Chang’e—who, depending on their struggle. Of particular embarrassment for whom you listen to, was either a selfish woman the Chinese authorities was the participation willing to sacrifice her marriage to preserve of Maoist and Marxist student groups in the her youth or simply very disgruntled with her protests, with many travelling to Shenzhen husband—beat him to the holy beverage and, from around China to join the workers. In late with her body growing lighter and lighter as an August over 50 activists were arrested in effect of the magic potion, flew away towards both Shenzhen and Beijing. This incident is the moon. Here enters the dog, a big black emblematic of China’s contemporary situation, hound that Hou Yi was rearing. Seeing the wife with any challenge to the status quo being of his master floating away, the dog lapped immediately and severely suppressed. what was left of the elixir and started giving China’s year of the dog was also imbued chase, his body growing in size all the while. with the spirit of another canine, Cerberus— Hiding on the moon did not save Chang’e, as the three-headed hound of Hades—with the the giant mutt swallowed the celestial object ravenous advance of the surveillance state whole, with her on it.