Author
Abstract
This article analyzes the transformation of labor relations in Taiwan. Employing a regulation approach to decipher the patterns of labor relations prevalent before the 1980s and the existing patterns characteristic of the 1990s, I argue that the former stage was a flexible Taylorist labor regime. This labor regime was coupled with an export‐oriented economy where the flexible use of labor was necessary to keep wages at low levels and to respond quickly to the world economy. In the 1990s, however, due to the upgrading and differentiation of the economy, plus a democratic movement that nurtured the emergence of unionism, this has been transformed into a new type of flexible labor regime in which different types of labor relations coexist. Different industrial sectors in this stage tend to adopt different forms of labor regulation within which none of them occupy a dominant position. Finally, the article discusses the spatial implications of labor relations in Taiwan with regard to geographical distribution. It is argued that, while geographical location did not matter in the former stage, in the 1990s geography does matter because of the differentiation of labor relations in different industrial sectors that exhibit distinctive patterns of geographical distribution. Cet article analyse la transformation des relations du travail à Taiwan. Utilisant la théorie de la régulation pour déchiffrer les modèles de relations dominants avant les années 1980, puis dans les années 1990, l’article démontre que la première phase se caractérisait par un régime tayloriste flexible; celui‐ci était associéà un économie orientée à l’exportation o? la souplesse d’utilisation de la main d’œuvre permettait de maintenir de faibles niveaux de salaires et de répondre rapidement au marché mondial. Dans les années 1990, en revanche, l’économie s’étant développée et diversifiée, parallèlement à l’émergence d’un mouvement démocratique d’oùétait né le syndicalisme, un autre régime de main d’œuvre flexible s’est dessiné, dans lequel plusieurs types de relations du travail coexistent. Dans cette phase, différents secteurs industriels ont tendance à adopter différents modes de régulation du travail sans qu’aucun ne prédomine. Pour finir, l’article aborde les implications des relations du travail dans l’espace taiwanais par rapport à la géographie; il affirme que, si le lieu n’importait pas dans la première phase, il rev?t un intér?t dans la seconde à cause de la différenciation des relations du travail dans des secteurs industriels présentant ainsi des modèles distincts de répartition géographique.
Suggested Citation
Jenn‐Hwan Wang, 2001.
"Contesting Flexibility: The Restructuring of Taiwan’s Labor Relations and Spatial Organization,"
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 346-363, June.
Handle:
RePEc:bla:ijurrs:v:25:y:2001:i:2:p:346-363
DOI: 10.1111/1468-2427.00315
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Cited by:
- Chau-kiu Cheung & Lih-rong Wang & Raymond Chan, 2013.
"Differential Impacts of Stressors on Sense of Belonging,"
Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 277-297, August.
- Chau-kiu Cheung & Raymond Chan & Wing-chung Ho, 2014.
"Feeling Close to Fellow Citizens in Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand,"
Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 119(1), pages 25-48, October.
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