Regional political economy and labor reform -- The roots of unemployment and the political economy of lay-offs -- Remaking China's urban welfare and labor market policies -- Pathways to re-employment -- Contention, protest, and social order -- Conclusion

Episodes of contentious collective action involving laid-off workers have erupted throughout China in recent years. With few exceptions, studies of Chinese laid-off workers' contention have attempted to generalize from field research in very few or even single-localities. This limitation has led...