Seminar in Contemporary Marxist Theory
King’s College London
Foxconn beyond China: Capital-labour relations as co-determinants of global organisation of production
Dr Rutvica Andrijasevic (University of Bristol)
Wednesday 9 May, 6pm
- K-1.56 King’s Building
- King’s College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS
- Foxconn, a Taiwanese-owned firm, is the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer and best known for the harsh working conditions at its mainland Chinese factories. In addition to its 32 factories in mainland China, Foxconn’s has more than 200 subsidiaries around the world. Based on fieldwork in Eastern Europe, where Foxconn located its European assembly plants, this talk will examine firm’s internationalization, namely the process by which the firm expands and subsequently organizes its operations in its overseas branch plants. The argument put forward is that investigations of internationalization focus typically on the firm’s internal management system neglecting the role of workers in shaping the firm’s strategies of labour management and organization of production. By showing the ways in which capital and labour co-determine processes of capitalist expansion, this talk aims to overcome the limitations resulting from internationalization theories’ traditional focus on the firm and its management.
- Dr Rutvica Andrijasevic is a Senior Lecturer in Management at the University of Bristol in 2015. She has published widely on the impact of migration on labour relations and labour markets, with particular emphasis on gender and sexuality. Currently, Rutvica is leading a research project entitled The Future of Labour in Europe in China-led Globalisation: A Case Study of Foxconn. The project investigates the global firms and the raise of China, and studies the ways in which ‘Chinese’ modes of production and management are impacting on work and employment relations in Europe. On this subject, Rutvica co-edited a volume Flexible workforces and low profit margins: electronics assembly between Europe and China available for free download at the ETUI website as well as a policy brief produced by PolicyBristol.
The Seminar in Contemporary Marxist Theory is a collaboration among scholars in the Departments of European & International Studies, Geography, and Management at King’s College London.
Contact: Lucia Pradella (lucia.pradella@kcl.ac.uk)
