Manufacturing Loyalty: The Political Mobilization of Labor in Taiwan, 1950—1986

Abstract

Authoritarianism expects workers to play the dual role of diligent producers and loyal citizens simultaneously. In extreme cases, workers must demonstrate political commitment in their everyday life. This article analyzes Taiwanese sugar refinery workers to understand the dynamics of political mobilization under the Nationalists. In the name of anti-communism, a series of control mechanisms were installed in nationalized workplaces. Workers were coerced to participate in numerous political rituals. Beneath superficial conformity, workers adopted a rich variety of everyday techniques of resistance to cope with their dependence. The author characterizes workers’ behaviors in terms of ritualism, innovation, and retreatism. These acts of resistance brought about an undisciplined workplace with widespread work avoidance and moonlighting. Over the long haul, the infrastructure of political mobilization remained intact despite the fact that its content became more and more meaningless. Finally, only with the fundamental change in the political environment brought about by democratization did this labor control strategy finally collapse.