Danwei: The Changing Chinese Workplace in Historical and Comparative Perspective (review)

This edited volume consists of nine chapters (with an introduction) by thirteen scholars from the United States, Australia, and China. The Preface states that the book originated in a panel held at the Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting in 1994. Three research questions are addressed by the contributors: (1) What are the origins of the danwei, and how and when did the danwei system become institutionalized? (2) Is the danwei institution unique to China? (3) What functions does the danwei serve, and how have these changed since the post-Mao reform?

The study of China's danwei, which perform multiple functions, is an important scholarly undertaking. The introduction, written by the two editors, sets the stage for the subsequent chapters by defining the concept of "danwei" and stating that it intends to come up with a "cross-cutting taxonomy" of the danwei, based on hierarchical status and operations. There are three levels of hierarchical status: central, local, and basic. In terms of operations, there are enterprise units, nonproducing units, nonprofit units, and administrative units. However, few contributors in the subsequent chapters refer to this taxonomy in their analyses. Inevitably, this gives the impression that the introduction was written after all the other essays.

The first three chapters look at the origins of the danwei. In chapter 1, Xiaobo Lu suggests that the economic and welfare functions of the danwei are rooted in the practices (the free supply system and economic self-reliance activities of army and administrative units) and institutions of the Yan'an era. These created a "small public" realm that became the institutional foundation for administrative and military units to pursue their interests. Few would dispute Lu's final observation that these work units can be both functional and detrimental (i.e., by concealing real profits and assets) to the centralized Communist structure. Obviously, Lu considers the practices and institutions of these units in the revolutionary period to be the historical antecedents (as opposed to the origin) of the danwei. This is a fair assessment.

Wen-hsin Yeh's case study of Shanghai's Bank of China is a most informative essay on the corporate culture in Republican China. Yeh finds that a "moralist managing philosophy" (which stresses unquestioned paternal authority, loyalty, integrity, and respect for superiors) pervades the Bank of China. Her study demonstrates that its communal corporate culture bears similarities to that of the danwei. She acknowledges that the Bank of China example is unique: "what the bank did was not altogether typical of what a majority of urban institutions accomplished" (p. 62). She sees the bank as a historical forerunner to the danwei. After reading this chapter, readers would agree that there are some parallels between corporate culture in the banking community and the prevailing values espoused by the socialist danwei.

The most plausible explanation for the actual origin of the danwei comes from Elizabeth Perry's chapter on China's labor movement. She discusses the link between the Shanghai labor movement (which was controlled by artisans) and the danwei. She singles out leaders such as Li Lisan, Chen Yun, and Chu Xuefan and discusses their contributions to labor laws and regulations, enterprise welfare, and the industrial policy of the Communist state. In the end, Perry proposes that the danwei system might best be understood "as the outcome of a heritage of protest—specifically labor conflict—rather than as a product of a simple Leninist imposition from above or . . . as the reflection of any alleged cultural propensity toward an unquestioning obedience to authority" (p. 43). An implication of her analysis is that the development of the danwei system is historically rather unique.

Overall, I found Perry's account plausible, although not conclusive. Her research has relied heavily on a few personalities and a short discussion of the institutional basis for the danwei. We are not...