Labor unrest in Chinese-invested enterprises in Turkey: local dynamics and global implications

Abstract

Labor cost is an important factor influencing the Chinese capital's global investment choices. Turkey relies on cheap labor to attract foreign direct investment; however, a potential rise in labor unrest could disrupt this pattern. Our study shows that struggles for unionization, higher wages, and new rights have predominated in labor conflicts in Chinese-invested enterprises in Turkey between 2010 and 2022, and these struggles were relatively successful. On the other hand, we also found that rather than such conflicts, what sets apart labor unrest in Chinese investments from those in other major investors in Turkey is the frequency of the protests of the surplus population. The struggles that our study uncovered differ from most of the struggles of the surplus population across the world in three critical respects. First, while the protests of the surplus population generally stem from the lack of capital investment, peculiarities of recent capital investment have shaped job-demanding protests in Chinese-invested enterprises in Turkey. Second, unlike most surplus population protests, our case study highlights the demand for the employment of local workers over foreign workers, grounded in citizenship-based discourse. Finally, while surplus population protests typically target national governments, in the cases that we present, they primarily direct their grievances toward Chinese capital, pressing it to prioritize local hiring over importing labor from China.