Social inequalities in China or crisis for Europe?(AGAINST THE CURRENT)

Readers in the West have for some time now associated the economic ascendancy of China with a proliferation of social conflicts and ongoing abuse of human rights.

For those on both the Left and Right, there is a logic of affirmation about such tensions: state-capitalism is at its authoritarian worst in China. For the Left, social conflict registered as the condition or symptom of intense economic transformation grafts nicely with well-rehearsed humanist if not Marxian formulations about the inequalities inherent to capitalism. And the Right cannot quite reconcile the fact that increasingly open markets do not equate with the entry of liberal democracy.

Conveniently, the spectacle of people protesting over land expropriation and corrupt officials segues into the next news item. We bask in numbness before the gentle glow of our cheap plasma TVs made in China, distracted by thoughts of the new dishwashers on sale at the local electrical superstore.

For the middle classes in Beijing--in which the intelligentsia are firmly ensconced--life is not so different. Trips to IKEA on the weekend serve as an exercise in resplendent indifference to the dinner of fifteen Swedish meatballs before deliberating over which bathmat to purchase. As products are both made and consumed in China, the international division of labour is far from clear, with the price of a Billy Bookcase equivalent to one purchased in Europe.

Step outside the chains of Western convenience stores and the social disparities become highly visible, most particularly with the abundance of rural migrant workers fuelling the construction boom and restaurant and hotel service industries. And they are spatially distributed, with greater densities of un- or under-employed migrants living on the city's outskirts or in temporary accommodation on building sites. Accompanying the recent passing of the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival there were busloads of migrants returning to work, the city starting to function again.

Catching a taxi on the way to the opening of yet another art gallery geared towards the international art market, my driver explained the economic circumstances of his life. In three years of driving a taxi he had not had a holiday. Why, I asked. 'Because if I take a day off work, it costs me money--I have to pay 100RMB ($15) daily rent for the car.' This may seem insignificant, but not when your cleared weekly wage is 700RMB ($105). But he thought his situation was better than that of the construction workers, whose accident prone 24-hour shift earned them around $65 a week.

Such low wages make rental accommodation unaffordable for many, especially in an Olympic city like Beijing. Wild property speculation has led to massive increases in the cost of rental and owner properties. The result? Younger people are living with their parents because they can't afford anything else--a phenomenon reproduced in the United Kingdom and Europe. This was the situation of my taxi driver, and he couldn't foresee a way out of this condition. 'All I can do is drive cars, and I can't handle office work.'