ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses about the changes in the political economy of the construction industry and the rise of the labour subcontracting system that results in a double absence, the absence of a boss and management, and the absence of a capital-labour relationship in the reform period. It shows that the labour subcontracting system is a core problem of China's post-socialist construction industry, generating a series of collective actions. It subsequently stood out as the single greatest means of labour expropriation, laying the foundation for the subsumption of labour in the production process. The capital-labour relationship has been entirely disguised: the workers literally do not know the identity of the developer or the construction company who is ultimately responsible for the non-payment of wages owed to them. Faith in legalism acts as a double-edged sword since once workers discover that the law enforcement institutions are frequently allies with capital against their interests, their faith collapses.
