Corporate Women in Contemporary China: “We’ve Always Worked”

This book explores the culture of work in urban China, focusing on how it has permeated beyond the workplace to shape bodily training, family life, and kinship and social relationships among white-collar women in their twenties and thirties. It examines how white-collar women seek to protect their right to work, embody a work ethic, and make their reproductive life a productive domain, and how the ethics and discipline of hard work and overtime work are transposed from the office cubicle to the gym and home.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 29 January 2024
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This book, based on extensive, multi-sited ethnographic research, delves into the intricate tapestry of work culture in contemporary urban China, extending its influence beyond the confines of the workplace to permeate bodily training, family life, kinship, and social relationships among white-collar women in their twenties and thirties. In the face of mounting challenges to navigate the increasingly demanding dual burden of work and family, these women are not abandoning their professional pursuits but rather transforming their bodies and homes into bustling hubs of productivity. Amidst an era where the state and society relentlessly exert pressure on individual young women's productivity and reproductive capabilities, this book explores how these white-collar women strive to safeguard their right to work, embody a strong work ethic, and transform their reproductive lives into domains of productivity. By integrating studies of labor, the body, gender, and kinship, the book unveils how the ethics and rigidly defined discipline of hard work and overtime work transcend the office cubicle, infiltrating the gym and home. This insightful exploration demonstrates how the emergence, embodiment, and expansion of a work culture perpetuate the dominance of the work ethic, exerting a profound impact on the bodies, selves, and lives of these women.

Weight: 336g
Dimension: 234 x 154 x 14 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367685652