Global capital, the state and Chinese workers:the Foxconn experience

In 2010 a startling 18 young migrant workers attempted suicide at Foxconn Technology Group production facilities in China. This article looks into the development of the Foxconn corporation to understand the advent of capital expansion and its impact on frontline workers’ lives in China. It also provides an account of the role of the state that facilitates to Foxconn’s production expansion as a form of monopoly capital. Foxconn stands out in a new phenomenon of capital expansion because of its speed and scale of capital accumulation in all regions of China that is incomparable to other enterprises. As the world’s largest electronic factory, we explore how the Foxconn workers were subjected to work pressure and desperation that might lead to suicides on the one hand but also open up daily and collective resistances on the other hand.