The Issue of Human Agency in the Reform of State Enterprises in China

In this paper, I use Anthony Giddens’ theory of structuration to examine the issue of human agency in the economic reform in China. As part of my preliminary dissertation research, interviews and archival research are conducted in order to explore the roles played by human agency of laobaixing (common people) in the historic era of structural change in China since 1978. I conclude that the agency of laobaixing is crucial in both official and plebeian discourses. In the former case, policy-makers try to be sensitive to people’s response to the reform so that the economic transformation of society remains in control politically. The plebeian discourse, though often apolitical, might actually lead to action that imposes structural changes in certain directions. The common employees’ response to the economic reform, be it resistance or cooperation, more often than not is spontaneous and expedient due to the rudimentary state of civil society in China. A more developed civil society, however, seems to be an inevitable trend if the human agency of laobaixing is recognized.