More than 80% of labour disputes in China are solved through mediation, but the processes do not eliminate the antagonism. In the previous part of this blog, I discussed the locals and emigrant workers’ lives in the divided Qingyang town. What effect does this have on labour disputes and the process of solving them?

In part 1 of this blog, I discussed the locals’ exclusive life in the divided Qingyang town. This part of the blog will go to the other side of town and explore the lives of an ‘emerging power’: low-educated emigrant workers.

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning when I received my mother’s call from China while contemplating my first blog about China as an “emerged power”.

If China is the world’s factory, then Qingyang town represents the forefront of production. As a town that features manufacturing industry, Qingyang Town is flooded with 2 million emigrant workers, while the registered permanent residents are fewer than 0.4 million.

“As long as states represent the highest form of political authority, it will be impossible to channel human self-interest toward common solutions.” This is stated by Rob Annandale, a Vancouver-based journalist and contributor to the Guardian and a.o. to this debate at The Broker.

Can INGOs harness the energy currently focused on demonstrating “results” to instead focus on the priorities of those their mission ultimately serves? Jennifer Lentfer of how-matters.org argues that it’s time for aid workers to focus their roles on service and advocacy, rather than bureaucratic technicalities.