This article examines the predicament and possibility for the development of a public sociology of labor in China. Labor studies that take seriously workers' class experience and capacity have been stymied by a Communist regime keen on censoring and domesticating sociology as a profession as well as fragmenting the interests, identities, and mobilization of the working class. Yet, in recent years, persistent struggles by Chinese workers themselves have created intense pressure on the Chinese state to redefine its position toward labor conflicts. At the same time, global labor and academic communities have infused ideas and resources that help expand the scope and linkages of labor civic activism.
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