关键词: 全球化, 马克思主义, 历史唯物主义, 劳动过程理论, 数字劳动, 批判主义, 劳动关系

Abstract: Neoliberal globalization has emerged on a foundation of replacing the old with the new in international political economy: the dissolution of traditional modes of production based on national borders, the emergence of the multipolar global political landscape, and the establishment of the neoliberal international economic order. These changes have systematically challenged the relatively stable industry/labor relations systems established by the postwar Western capitalist countries following the logical chain of “consumerism”“Fordist mass production”“trade unionism”“welfare states”. In the Western labor relations domain, the mainstream paradigm of pluralism has been therefore experiencing a difficult transformation. A new historical opportunity has arisen for the critical labor relations paradigm, at the kernel of which are Marxs historical materialism and the theory of surplus value. And compared with pluralism, it has shown stronger explanatory power for labor relations issues in the new era. Specifically, with the end of the postwar “Golden Age of Capitalism”, Marxist historical materialists have once again seen hopes of challenging the capitalist hegemony on a global scale. The theory of surplus value from the micro perspective has regained its explanatory power for the digitalized modes of production through its deep insights into algorithmic control and digital labor. By reviewing the latest development of these two schools of thought, this paper finds a revival of critical theory in the debates over a series of important issues in the field of labor relations in a globalizing world. This paper concludes with a discussion of the significance of these theories in constructing an independent knowledge system of labor relations and accounting for crucial labor relations issues in contemporary China.

Key words: globalization, Marxism, historical materialism, labor process theory, digital labor, critical theory, labor relations