session 7 (10/9) - dube (film + 19th century)

[Carlos Oyarbide]

It is ironic to watch the struggles of the proletariat in a supposedly communist country. As I watch the unionizers struggle and perceiver, I kept wondering about the laws and the realities of China. On the one hand, there are laws that are meant to protect the workers and their interest, while on the other, there seems to be an unspoken agreement (or maybe not so unspoken) between businesses and the government to allow for the exploitation of workers. Watching the unionizers risk their safety in organizing laborers made me imagine the sense of betrayal that struggling Chinese citizens must feel towards the broken promises of their government. But, I also realize based on the interactions between people in the the film, that some of them maybe don’t feel betrayed at all. That they are so focused on surviving that they don’t have time to dote on the legacy of their revolutionary past.

 

Our guest predicted that the communist part in China would eventually have to become a socialist democracy. I have to agree that it seems like the only way for the communist party to remain in power. I couldn’t help but wonder what children are taught in school about the history of their government. I kept asking myself, “how is it possible that people that celebrated the communist revolution tolerated the abuse of factory owners?” 

[Tanish Fortson]

The film “We The Works” had my attention from the moment it started.  I had no idea that workers are still fighting for basic rights that we take for granted such as job sponsored health care.  Being able to take a day off of work without being fired is unknown to a lot of Chinese workers. I was almost in tears when watching the injustices that the workers face. The labor lawyers that represent the workers lives are in danger due to the work they do. It was even one guy that was kidnapped and assaulted.  The most important point that I want to make is that this is modern day-time. This is happening now in China. I like that the lawyers are teaching the workers what to do as a group. They are fighting for themselves and learning in the process, how to advocate as a whole, they are stronger together when dealing with corrupt bosses and unpaid wages.

 

In our schools, colleges, and daily lives we are taught to take up for ourselves. We do what is right and speak out against injustices. Many of the Chinese workers were to afraid to even speak up against doing work that is hazardous and dangerous.  I belive this is becasue they are not taught how to fight for themselves. Many of the workers had little to no formal education. Unfortunately I cannot show this film to my students because they are in grades K-1 and cannot read the subtitles but I will look for a similar film. 

[Eric Hoh]

This documentary was captivating and inspiring. I appreciated Han Dongfang's declaration that the intention of the movie was not to make an inspiring or artistic film, but rather to have documentation and recollection for future generations of a China that he hopes and believes will be far past the need for workers unions and contention between people and the government. 

 

This film documents the Chinese workers' fight for their own future security and care as inscribed in the law. It portrays many workers in their apathy, fear, and/or hesitancy to join in protests and action against the systems of injustice around them. I can imagine leading a discussion amongst students and asking them what they observed in the workers. They might describe the workers as "apathetic" or "afraid," which would be a perfect transition into asking students the more critical question of what systems are in place that are leading these workers to be apathetic or afraid despite the fact that they have legal rights in their work. 

 

I really like the prospect of having students shift their attention from blaming the workers, to seeing the oppressive atmosphere which are the systems of injustice that create a gravity of discouragement in organizing and protesting. 

[Tanish Fortson]

I have been thinking about how I can incorporate “We the Workers” into a workable unit for my K-2^nd grade students.  I was thinking about showing a part of the film and reading the captions to them. After that we could have a discussion to assist students in comprehension so they can understand what went on in the film. I’m not sure of how everything will play out when it comes to the core content and helping students understand that China has labor laws but the factory owners do not abide by them. One of the activities we could do is divide the class up by jobs such as factory worker, banker, and insurance salesman. I will not pay wages to some of the workers and pay a very small amount to the factory workers. My goal would be to see how the students could advocate for themselves. I could also assign a student to be a lawyer for the workers. I think this would be an age appropriate lesson for my students. 

[Carlos Oyarbide]

I think that segments of “We the Workers” might be an interested film to show and discuss in either a history class or an Economics class. I think it really helps ground what can be a rather abstract concept: collective bargaining. It would be a good opportunity to show a real world example of the process that workers must undergo in order to fight for a higher living standard. It shows the real struggles and dangers that workers must undergo.

 

I also think that it would be interesting to compare the rise and fall of unions in the United States and compare them to the chart that was shown after the presentation via the website. Students could even do a more in-depth model analysis of unionization trends in China. They could look at states that are currently “right-to-work” states and look at the average paid for workers in certain sectors and compare them to the same profession in a union friendly state and draw conclusions. The same can be done for business in China and then compare their findings in both countries. I think that while these concepts might seem abstract at first, after watching the film, students will be more empathetic and interested in learning about worker rights.

[Sonia Arrayales]

"We the Workers" documentary was moving and powerful. We sometimes enclose ourselves in our problems and do not think of the problems of others. To see the struggle that the workers were undergoing was surprising. It was good to see that their are people that care enought to fight for the rights of those that are afraid too. Something that resonated with me was that many of the workers were afraid to fight for what they are entitled to. It is something that I have in different times and countries, including our own. The labor refomers to are the heroes of this documentary. The were working rentlessly to get the workers united and helping them overcome their fear. It was also interestig to see how they were using technology to reach out to the workers. It was good to see that the workers from the Lote factory won what they were fighting for. That was the gleam of hope in the film. It gives hope to those workers that are unsure to fight.I hope that this film inspires many in China to demand what is to be given to them.

[Aja Koester]

One of the biggest challenges as a reformer is the contrast between wanting to move forward (modernizing) while at the same time not wanting to move forward (staying true to tradition). As a a group we must acknowledge that there is unrest within and many are unhappy. It seems as reformers we could look at education as a platform for reform, which I think could be a good focus for our group. Reform through education could be a way to introduce new ideas to help move China forward (i.e. Western science, technology, production modes, and updated plans for commerce). At the same time, education could be a place to maintain what we already have in place that is working. An immediate rebellion would ultimately weaken our country because there is nothing in place to work towards. We could use education to both appreciate our history and culture including our successes, while also looking at our country’s challenges. We could begin teaching about ways that other countries are becoming successful and begin modifying these to work for China. While this reform could take many years to truly create change, it is a way of solving the challenge of trying something new while holding on to the integrity of what is traditionally Chinese.

[Jane Shen]

Jazmin and Micheel,

I love the idea of studing abroad. Expecially teaching in high school foreign language, I totally agree that living in foreign country and learn the local language, experience the local culture will be the best way of learning foreign language.

As far as I know, many colleges had exchange programs which offered the students to study abroad. NYU also openned a ShangHai brach college. 

But to offer high school students the similar chances would be idea yet quited a long way to go.

[Beverly Nettles]

Taking the position of a reformer China needs to forge ahead with reforming its political and social status.  The road may be long, however a gradually approach is necessary for economy change.   Qing empire failed in two Opium wars, now its time for something new or different.  Confucian tradition is not easily broken, so changes would have to be gradual.  China has to consider what makes it foreign countries like the Western country strong and embrace their advantages while maintaining their own culture.  Educating its people on a democratic government and developing a strong military front are the beginning of  China’s reform. 

[Jane Shen]

I agree with you Rick. American workers went through the similar process in 1970s and 1980s. And the Union had won the pensions and other benefits in 90s. However, as for the economy crisis started since late 90s and lasted longer than 10 years, the unions are under pressure to give up the rights they fought so hard for. As you mentioned , a 2 tier system had seperate the new workers as a secondary layer compared with the older ones. This also put the retired workers into the anxiety of loosing their health benefits.

As teachers, UTLA is fighting really hard to save teachers health insurance and retirement pensions and it has been a tough battle to decrease the class sizes. But can teachers win while exauhsed with the increasing numbers of students in the class and less guarentted benefit in the future?

I  bellieve China will be no different than American as to the workers unios. However, teachers who are mostly respected by the society were much more at ease compare to their American peers.

[Eric Hoh]

This was an inspiring film that captured the hardships that laborers have been facing in China. Although they had legal rights to health and social welfare provisions, business owners were not informing workers of these rights. In addition to this, workers realized that even though they had legal rights, they were under a system that would not honor these rights and that would not be regulated in enacting these benefits. I can imagine that this film could be an encouraging and humbling lens for students who have been (or currently are) exeriencing systemic injustices that are affecting their communities, families, and personal livelihoods. I would love to show this film to high school students as a point of discussion, because I believe that daily struggle against cycles of poverty are a reality that many students in my community face daily. 

[Jazmin Luna]

As a follower of Sun Yatsen, I believe that we should have military reforms but that shouldn't be our focus.  We already have envoys stationed abroad so that we know in advance each move foreign countries might take.  Yes, we have external factors that are affecting us but we need to pay attention to those internal factors that we can fix and make us more united.  With our explosive population growth we should look at social reform in order increase our economic development and create more output.  This will in turn give us the monetary funds we need to strengthen our army.  Yes, we must establish instititutions where our people can study Western languages and philosophies but what good will that do for us if our people cannot fully develop their own talents. 

[Jazmin Luna]

I agree that our country is not united.  I agree that we should have reforms that include industrial ventures and transport facilities.  This will allow for the total utilization of land resources.  Yet, as we have seen this has not been successful as these ideas are not central to the state's concern.  And as you mentioned small protests are becoming more numerous which divide us even more.  Our priority should be social reform in order to make our people happy and in order for us to prosper.  We should get rid of old systems like the examination system.  We should also change the status quo.  I believe this has been held by many people in power in order to protect their position and power.  By pushing for political change and social reform all these things could be accomplished. 

[Jazmin Luna]

As old as China is, I would have never imagined all the injustices people are still suffering at work. In my country (Ecuador), I would hear from family members about how they are mistreated verbally by their bosses and how they can't do anything. When they would say that, I was ohh that would not happen in the U.S.  For some reason I thought, ohhh well they are a third world country so they don't know of their rights, which is not okay.  But as for China, I would have thought that they had their stuff together seeing that they have been around longer.  It amazed me to see how many people were not interested in learning about the laws for they think that the laws are just written but the government does not follow them.  It inspired me to see how certain people are willing to risk their lives in order to educate others and make sure their rights are being honored.  It's saddening to see what people go through in other countries. 

[Chris Hertzog]

I think the self-strenghthening made the strongest case for solving China's big challenges and "Make China Great Again!"    If we just focus on our borders, bring back the jobs and industry and get back to the good old ways and good old days, everything will be alright again.  Right?  Well, I guess China's history does not show this. 

We may have done well in the debate in class, but I think we lost the war.  Our side simply did not offer any serious long term answers in dealing with China's deepr underlying problems.  We just wanted to fix the externals and surface superficial issues and think that would eventually deal with the internal and historical economic, social and cultural issues.  You know, go back to the good old days when everything was working properly and all the Chinese knew what to do and just did it.  Sound familiar?

Well, this was a good reminder of how these kind of exercises can be great learning tools for our students in getting into the roles and really thinking through the material and how it would affect them as people in that time.  Great way for kids today to experience something rather than reading or hearing about it.

 

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