Democratic member control in Chinese cooperatives: A study of the Gung Ho Movement

• Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements..........................................................................................................................v List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. viii Abbreviations..................................................................................................................................ix

Chapter ONE

INTRODUCTION

• ................................................................................................................1
• 1.1Research Contribution ............................................................................................................4 
• 1.2Chapter Outline.......................................................................................................................7

Chapter TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

• Gung Ho ..................................................................................................................11
• 2.1Cooperatives.........................................................................................................................11 2.
• 1.1Cooperative Definition...................................................................................................11 2.
• 1.2Types of Cooperative Enterprise ...................................................................................16 2.
• 1.3Cooperatives: development and modern significance ...................................................17 
• 2.2History of Cooperatives in China .........................................................................................18 
• 2.3The Gung Ho Movement......................................................................................................22 2.
• 3.1Rewi Alley and the beginning of the Gung Ho movement............................................22 2.
• 3.2The Gung Ho Movement Goes into Hiatus ...................................................................24 2.
• 3.3Revival of the International Committee for Chinese Industrial Cooperatives...............24 
• 2.4The New Zealand China Friendship Society........................................................................26 2.
• 4.1Establishment of New Zealand China Friendship Society ............................................26 2.
• 4.2New Zealand China Friendship Society and the Gung Ho Movement..........................26 
• 2.5Shandan County....................................................................................................................27 2.
• 5.1The Shandan Bailie School............................................................................................28 2.
• 5.2Shandan Cooperative Experimental Zone .....................................................................29 2.
• 5.3Work of New Zealand China Friendship Society in Shandan .......................................29 
• 2.6The 2007 Farmers’ Professional Cooperative Law ..............................................................30 2.
• 6.1Definition of a cooperative under Chinese Law ............................................................30 2.
• 6.2Chinese Cooperative Principles.....................................................................................31 2.
• 6.3Development of Chinese Cooperatives under the 2007 Law.........................................33 
• 2.7Conclusion............................................................................................................................35

Chapter THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

• Cooperative Democracy ...............................................................................................36
• 3.1Historical Development of a Democratic Workplace...........................................................36 
• 3.2Variations in Terminology....................................................................................................40 
• 3.3Working Definition of Workplace Democratization ............................................................43 3.
• 3.1‘Measuring’ workplace democracy................................................................................47 
• 3.4Workplace Democratization within Cooperatives................................................................49 
• 3.5Workplace Democracy within Chinese Cooperatives..........................................................61 
• 3.6Conclusion............................................................................................................................70

Chapter FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

• Cooperatives as relationships of power ..................................................................72
• 4.1The Contested Nature of Democracy ...................................................................................73 
• 4.2Organization and Power .......................................................................................................74 
• 4.3Discursive Reality.................................................................................................................76 
• 4.4Critical Discourse Analysis view of power..........................................................................81 
• 4.5Foucaldian Discourse Analysis view of power ....................................................................82 
• 4.6Examples of Foucaldian Discourse Analysis in management studies..................................89 
• 4.7Critiques of Foucaldian Discourse Analysis ........................................................................94 
• 4.8Cooperatives as Relationships of Power ..............................................................................97 
• 4.9Conclusion............................................................................................................................97

Chapter FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

• Research Design ......................................................................................................99
• 5.1Research Strategies.............................................................................................................100 5.
• 1.1An ethnographic approach ...........................................................................................102 
• 5.2Locating myself as a researcher..........................................................................................
• 1045.3Data Collection...................................................................................................................106 5.
• 3.1Interviews.....................................................................................................................107 5.
• 3.2Observation ..................................................................................................................112 5.
• 3.3Secondary Data ............................................................................................................113 
• 5.4Translation..........................................................................................................................114 
• 5.5Ethical Implications............................................................................................................115 
• 5.6Methodological Limitations ...............................................................................................116 
• 5.7Data Analysis......................................................................................................................119 
• 5.8Conclusion..........................................................................................................................128 Chapter 6: What’s in a name? Exploring the meanings of the Cooperative Enterprise in China 129
• 6.1Local experience versus international standards................................................................132 
• 6.2Under the Influence ............................................................................................................139 
• 6.3Common people, uncommon knowledge ...........................................................................149 
• 6.4Progress not Perfection.......................................................................................................157 
• 6.5Conclusion..........................................................................................................................161 Chapter 7: The Meanings and Practice of Democracy in Chinese Cooperatives.........................163 viii
• 7.1Chinese Democratic Parameters.........................................................................................163
• 7.2Democratic Meanings.........................................................................................................169 
• 7.3Cooperative Democracy in Practice ...................................................................................176 
• 7.4The role of leadership.........................................................................................................187 
• 7.5Conclusion..........................................................................................................................195 Chapter 8: Discussion...................................................................................................................196
• 8.1Inconsistencies and opportunities in defining a ‘true’ Chinese cooperative ......................197 
• 8.2Workplace Democracy and the leader/ member relationship.............................................205 
• 8.3The Chinese Communist Party and its relationship to Workplace Democracy in the Shandan cooperatives...............................................................................................................213 
• 8.4Conclusion..........................................................................................................................222 Chapter 9: Conclusion..................................................................................................................224
• 9.1Key Arguments...................................................................................................................224 
• 9.2Contributions to the study of workplace democracy and cooperatives..............................231 
• 9.3Methodological Contributions............................................................................................235 
• 9.4Practical Implications.........................................................................................................236 
• 9.5Future Research ..................................................................................................................237
• 9.6Conclusion..........................................................................................................................240 REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................242 Appendix A: Interview Questions for ICCIC Members in Beijing and Shanghai.......................269 Appendix B: Interview Questions for Cooperative Leaders........................................................271 Appendix C: Interview Questions for Cooperative Members......................................................273 Appendix D: Observation Guidelines..........................................................................................275