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Book Proposal

Chinese Globalisation in the Amazon: Workers, Expatriates and Chinese Model of

Production´s Policies
Cleiton Ferreira Maciel Brito

1) Blurb
This book examines Chinese investment in the Global South, with particular
attention to industrial activity in Latin America. Based on ethnographic work conducted in
several Chinese factories in the Amazon region of Brazil, whether private, partially private
or state-owned, it explores the impact of these factories on the lives of workers, specifically
on wages, laws and labour benefits, as well as the relationship between management and
workers. Drawing on interviews with Brazilian workers, expatriate Chinese workers, union
leaders and factory managers, the author sheds light on the implementation of chinese
model of production – an externally defined work regimes that showed little engagement
with the workforce in the region, together with practices that resulted in a technical or
bureaucratic relationship with the worker, and the emergence of lower wages than the local
average, as well as few concessions on labour benefits. A study of Chinese industrial
expansion in the developing world and the implications for workers – and their reactions –
this volume will be of interest to scholars of the sociology of work and organisations,
development studies and politics, International relations, managment, and chinese
globalization.

2) Statement of Aims / Rationale

The research was awarded by the Brazilian government in 2018 as the best thesis
in the field of Sociology (Honorable Mention), for its theoretical, methodological and
thematic originality. The thesis is innovative because it deals with a theme that has not yet
been explored: Chinese factories in the Amazon. In addition, it is a methodological
innovator. The data obtained from Chinese companies, such as managers 'salaries,
expatriates' daily lives, were only obtained via the “guanxi methodology” (a network of
symbolic exchanges and gifts between Chinese researcher and expatriates). This also
allowed us to map the trajectory of Chinese expatriates and to follow their life routines in
Brazil.
One of the relevance of the thesis is to make a comparison Chinese factories with
the so-called "Japanese model". The discussion that dominated sociology in recent years -
especially in developing countries - was the debate about the “Japanese model”. This
research advances in relation to this theme, showing the direction of work in the face of
China's emergence. I defend the existence of a "Chinese model", a management and
production system with its own characteristics.
Another important element is that the research studies the chinese globalisation
through trajectory of Chinese expatriates, who moved to Brazil. The data show how this is
part of a new wave of mobility of globalized workers and reveal the specifics of this
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expatriation. I argue that, in addition to the idea of "conformity" that would exist in the
expatriation process, as Smith and Zheng1 suggest, there is a relationship between control
and resistance. The expatriate controls and is controlled. He needs to submit to the
expatriation process agreements, but at all times, the expatriate creates ways to escape or
relativize them.
The book also dialogues with research on Chinese factories present in China itself2,
in Europe3 and Africa, highlighting points of data convergence, but outlining the specifics
of Chinese factories in the Amazon.

1
SMITH, Chris; ZHENG, Yu (2016). The management of labour in chinese MNCs operating
outside of China: a critical review. In: LIU, Mingwei; SMITH, Chris. China at work: a labour
perspective on the transformation of work and employment in China. UK, London: Palgrave
Macmillian Education.
2
CHAN, J.; PUN, N; SELDEN, M. (2013). The politics of global production: Apple, Foxconn and
China’s new working class. New technology, work and employment, n. 28 (2), p. 100-115.
3
ANDRIJASEVIC, Rutvica; SACCHETTO, Devi. (2016). Foxxconn Beyond China: capital-
labour relations as co-determinants of internacionalization. In: LIU, Mingwei; SMITH, Chris.
China at work: a labour perspective on the transformation of work and employment in China. UK,
London: Palgrave Macmillian Education.
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3) Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION: THE “WORLD FACTORY” IN THE AMAZON FOREST

The Manaus City and global factories in the Amazon.............................................................00
Guanxi and tambaqui: on how (not) to do ethnography in Chinese factories…...…………....00
Chinese factories: separating the wheat from the chaff….………………………………….00
Organization of this volume...................................................................................................00

1. CHINA AND ITS FACTORIES: AT HOME AND EXPANDING

The world and the China.........................................................................................................00
A new China and the world.....................................................................................................00
The China and work question: Home...................................................................000
The China and work question: Away...................................................................000
The Chinese presence in the global south: the case of Brazil..............................................000

2. THE CHINESE MODEL OF PRODUCTION AND THE SOCIAL IMPACTS

ON AMAZONIAN WORKERS
The Chinese presence in the Manaus Free Trade Zone.....................................................000
Profile of the surveyed companies.....................................................................................000
Profile and social links of the interviewed workers...........................................................000
The Human Resources policy of companies......................................................................000
“The law is the limit”: Salaries, benefits and participation.................................000
New and old hiring requirements.......................................................................000

3. PRODUCTION SYSTEM AND TRANSFORMATION OF WORK PROCESS

The input import system....................................................................................................000
Organization of the work process......................................................................................000
Supervision and repetitive work at PlateChina...................................................000
Work "on demand" at TVChina..........................................................................000
Gender and work and in ArconChina..................................................................000
Imported work: Assemblying motorcycles at MotoChina .................................000
Changes in forms of work management.............................................................................000

4. FROM “IRON RICE BOWL” TO “AÇAI IN THE BOWL”: THE CHINESE

WORKERS 'JOURNEY TO THE AMAZON
Internationalization of Chinese companies and management by expatriation………...…000
Expatriation from below: Shang, Nang, and Lee's Journey.............................................000
“Controlled dorms”: expatriation management in the surveyed companies....................000
The limits of expatriation management............................................................................000

CONCLUSION
Towards a global Chinese of production model

WORKS CITED........................................................................................................000
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4) Chapter Synopses
INTRODUCTION: THE WORLD FACTORY IN THE AMAZON
FOREST
In this part of the book, the central research question is exposed: to
understand how the Chinese factory impacts work in the south of the world. In this
sense, the Amazon is situated as a place that has been receiving international
factories since the 1970s, with the "Japanese model" as the organization of work.
With the arrival of Chinese factories in the 2000s, the question that arose was to
understand what changed and how workers perceived it. In addition, the
introduction discusses the research methodology and the field research strategies.
An ethnography of how research was done among expatriate Chinese makes up the
final part of the text.

Chapter 1 – THE CHINA AND ITS FACTORIES: AT HOME AND EXPANDING

In chapter 1, there is the approach on Chinese economic reforms, how the
country entered the gates of globalization. In this part, I also make use of some
aspects of the issue of work in contemporary China, as well as the characteristics
of work in Chinese factories in Europe and Africa. Above all, the variety of "work
regimes" within and outside China is pointed out. In addition, it is described how
China arrived in Brazil and, particularly, what are the characteristics of Chinese
investments in the Manaus Free Trade Zone. Views of Brazilian businessmen and
unions about the Chinese presence in the Amazon are part of this context and close
the discussion in this chapter.

Chapter 2 - THE CHINESE MODEL OF PRODUCTION AND THE SOCIAL

IMPACTS ON AMAZONIAN WORKERS

Chapter 2 deals with the organizational profile of the companies surveyed

and the ways in which the relationship between the headquarters in China and the
subsidiaries in Manaus occurs. In this process, what I call the “transnationalization
of the Human Resources sector” stands out.
Still in this chapter, I point out how Brazilian management perceives
Chinese management and indicate the profile of the worker, the social ties between
the workforce, the policy of wages, benefits and participation, as well as the
qualifications required by the companies surveyed.
The main point of this chapter is the strong control exercised by the Chinese
matrix over the productive processes in Manaus, the policy of low wages and few
labor benefits, the technical-bureaucratic management and the little space given to
the participation of the work. Exemplifying this process, it is shown how a Dutch
company, with local roots, underwent profound managerial and productive changes
when it started to be commanded by Chinese capital.
The reactions of workers and unions were intense and the chapter shows the
main ones.
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Chapter 3 - PRODUCTION SYSTEM AND TRANSFORMATION OF WORK

PROCESS
This chapter deals with the work process in the factories investigated. In this
sense, the transformations that the work processes have undergone in the sectors of
each factory are indicated. And how this has changed in the face of the Chinese
presence in the region.
As a basis for this, we point out a Chinese production system that is
structured on the high import of inputs from China, generating little local
production chain. This is what I call “import management” and “inventory
management”.
In addition, Taylorized production processes, repetitive work, simple
equipment assembly and direct factory supervision, carried out by expatriates,
constitute an important discussion in the chapter.

Chapter 4 - FROM “IRON RICE BOWL” TO “AÇAI IN THE BOWL”: THE

CHINESE WORKERS 'JOURNEY TO THE AMAZON

Chapter 4 characterizes Chinese management with a focus on expatriating

Chinese workers to Manaus. To that end, there is a description of the characteristics
and requirements of the expatriation process and it is shown how this involves the
local Human Resources sector and the headquarters in China. Matrix control over
subsidiaries and lower wages than managers earn in Brazil are the foundations of
this industrial practice.
The empirical content of this process is seen in the trajectory of three of
these Chinese expatriates. It describes their social and geographical origin, their
search for social mobility in China and the race to be part of workers who move to
other countries. Their goals in Brazil and the plans they make about the future are
also addressed.
Finally, it is indicated how the expatriation process makes the "factory
dormitories" policy, seen in China, also be globalized and reproduced in Manaus,
increasing working time and control over expatriates.

CONCLUSION: Towards a global Chinese of production model

The conclusion reflects the significance of this book about China and its
impact on work in developing countries, such as Brazil. The study sheds light on
important elements of Chinese globalization.
Among these elements, there is a set of factories with more external
relations and controls than with the local context. The result of this is a production
system without many gains for the industry and with strong impacts on local work.
For the industry, Chinese factories deepen a system for importing inputs from China
that prevents the formation of production chains in the region.
Regarding work, the strong control of the manufacturing workforce, wages,
benefits below the average of other international companies and little space for
worker participation show the social impacts of these factories. Therefore, a
technical-bureaucratic relationship appears, more focused on "production" than on
"management". I refer to this process as the "Chinese model".
One of the provocations of the conclusion is, based on international research
on Chinese investments, to indicate that the research data, although with different
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perspectives, converge to talk about internationalized Chinese factories, with

different implications, but which point to a Chinese model of global production.
Another dimension addressed in the conclusion is that, despite precarious
work practices, Chinese factories in the Amazon break some myths that had been
had about Chinese investments. One is that the Chinese are "enslaving workers".
As the book points out, these factories do not go beyond what the law stipulates,
but neither do they break it. There are difficulties in relating to unions, but even in
order to survive in the Amazon, doors must be opened for them.

5) Length and Schedule

The book will have approximately 55,000 words, containing about 15 tables
/ illustrations. There are no stipulations on the part of my institution that require any
of these materials to be published in open access.
Final manuscript will be delivered in about 50 days.

6) Definition of the market

This book will be of interest to scholars of the sociology of work and
organizations, development studies and politics, International relations,
management, and Chinese globalization. Globalization, Studies on the Amazon,
expansion of China, the global South, Chinese factories, and ways of organizing
work are lists in which the book can be included.
It should be noted that the theme is widely taught and discussed, not only in
the academic world, but at the journalistic level and even among the common
public. Especially in the context of China's global rise, the social view on China's
role in the world today and the "myths" that exist about Chinese factories. The book
questions this issue and "separates the chaff from the wheat".
Given this, and mainly because it deals with two themes that are global -
China and the Amazon - I am sure that the book will have wide international and
local appeal.
As keywords for the book, I suggest Chinese globalization, Amazon,
Chinese model of production, workers, expatriates.

7) Competition
The main reference work that is directly linked to my research is that of Ching
Kwan Lee. Not only in the theme, but in the period of field research.

LEE, Ching Kwan. (2018). The Specter of Global China: Politics, Labor and Foreign
Investment in Africa. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
An important parallel is that Lee addresses a context in a region where the State's
presence is critical as capital (copper mining in Zambia and Tanzania). In Manaus, the
State was important as a private force in the creation of the ZFM. If Lee goes up, that is,
she analyzes capital through its high spectrum, this research addresses the low spectrum,
Chinese capital in its eminently productive dimension and in its interests of market dispute
and accumulation via profit, low wages, and job segmentation.
Finally, she analyzes the Chinese expansion with a focus on capital that has a
fundamental point in use value, namely copper mining. My research focuses on Chinese
capital that is based on exchange values, in the global electronics and home appliances
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production chain. If in Lee's work Chinese capital is more flexible to the demands of
African workers, in the Amazon it has been more inflexible than the rest of international
capital.
Another text related to the theme proposed in this book is written by Cris Smith and
Yu Zheng.

SMITH, Chris; ZHENG, Yu (2016). Flexible workforces and low profit margins:
electronics assembly between Europe and China. Brussels: European Trade Union Institute
(ETUI).
The book organized by the authors points out precarious processes in Chinese
factories located in Eastern Europe, but the book does not approach in depth or make a
comparison with the production model that had been the main inspiration for factory
management, that is, the Japanese model. Even because this model became effective when
global factories moved to manufacturing plants in the global south, in the 1970s, such as
the Manaus Free Trade Zone.
In addition, the focus of most of the work published in the book is on the Chinese
company known worldwide for extremely precarious practices. In the case of Manaus, the
focus is extended to Chinese companies in several productive sectors, such as electronics,
motorcycles, and home appliances.
Given this, it can be said that the study of Chinese factories in the Amazon helps to
complete a cycle of analysis of modern economics and production, advancing and
complementing points not touched by these authors.
In summary, therefore, the book has its originality and highlights elements that have
not yet been touched by international literature: the place of the Amazon in the context of
Chinese globalization; expatriation in terms of Chinese wages and forms of mobility; the
arrival of Chinese factories in a country with modern industries and a competitive industrial
pole, such as Brazil; a system of laws and labor justice with a strong role in defending
workers; consolidated and active unions; the question of the Japanese production system
as a predominant management model in Brazil and the shock that will be caused by the
arrival of the Chinese model; and, finally, the fact that the research looks at Chinese
companies with different forms of capital control and that they are from different sectors
of the economy, especially those of manufactured goods.

8) Product category
The book can be considered a monograph, but only relatively, as it addresses issues
in general contexts, and maps the process of Chinese expansion around the world until it
arrives in Manaus. It is an in-depth work, but not so "specialized".
The book can be recommended for both undergraduate and graduate levels of
courses on contemporary globalization, studies of global China, sociology of work and
organizations, international relations, and research on the Amazon.

9) Additional Information

I am aware that the text, in some aspects, may have the language modified to make
it more accessible and increase interest in the book.
Besides, chapters are likely to have to be revised, and I am willing to make any
necessary changes.
Finally, I am attaching the Introduction as it could be in the book. This introduction
provides a good overview of the research context, the objectives of the investigation, the
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methodological aspects, the questions of theoretical references, the report of the

ethnography made between and the main results of the research. Thank you in advance for
the reviewers of this proposal and of the book chapter.

10) Identification
Cleiton Ferreira Maciel Brito holds a Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences and a
Master's in Sociology from the Federal University of Amazonas. PhD in Sociology from
the Federal University of São Carlos. Winner of the CAPES Thesis Awards 2018 in the
Sociology Area (Honorable Mention). He has been researching the Chinese presence in the
world, specifically in Brazil, with the authorship of several articles on the subject in
specialized magazines. He is a professor in the Sociology Department at the Federal
University of Grande Dourados, in Brazil.
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