1st Edition

Precariousness in High-Growth Economies Comparing Labor in Contemporary China and in Postwar Japan and France

Edited By Gilles Guiheux, Bernard Thomann Copyright 2026
242 Pages 11 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

242 Pages 11 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

This book is the culmination of advanced historical and sociological fieldwork in China, Japan, and France. It explores the evolution of working and living conditions in industrialized societies that have reached a certain level of wealth in a few decades, seeking to offer a more nuanced view on the profound changes experienced by the population in their daily lives. While high growth is... Read more

Introduction, Gilles Guiheux, Bernard Thomann  Chapter 1 Payslips: Personal records to explore labour conditions, Odile Macchi, Gilles Guiheux  Chapter 2 The working-class household economy: frugality, discipline and strategies, Marie Chessel, Gilles Guiheux, Odile Macchi, Bernard Thomann  Chapter 3 Finding a voice: worker demands for recognition, Éric Florence, Marion Fontaine, Bernard Thomann  Chapter 4 A regulated class struggle? Minimum wage policies in a growth regime, Marion Fontaine, Paul-André Rosental. With contributions from Christophe Capuano, Gilles Guiheux, Bernard Thomann  Chapter 5 In the name of human value. Religion and ethics in the business world, Marie-Emmanuelle Chessel, Gilles Guiheux, Bernard Thomann. With the collaboration of Lan Jiang Fu  General Conclusion, Gilles Guiheux, Christophe Capuano, Bernard Thomann

Biography

Gilles Guiheux is Professor at Université Paris Cité (France). A China specialist, he works on economic sociology and the sociology of labor. His most recent research focuses on Chinese garment workers. His publications include Contemporary China: 1919 to the Present (2023) and, with Eric Florence, a special issue of Le Mouvement social on “Labour Regimes in China” (2023/4).

Bernard Thomann is Professor at Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (Inalco, Paris), and Director of the Institut français de recherches sur l'Asie de l'Est, where he conducts research on the history of labor and social policies in contemporary Japan.  He is the author of La Naissance de l'Etat social japonais. Biopolitique, travail et citoyenneté dans le Japon impérial (1868–1945) (2015), Le Salarié et l'entreprise dans le Japon contemporain. Formes, genèse et mutations d'une relation de dépendance, 18681999 (2008).