Why so Weak? : The Social Conditions of Labor Insurgency in Malaysia

   Many Asian countries have experienced rapid industrialization and developed manufacturing for the past several decades. Given that manufacturing was traditionally one of bases of labor activism in many countries, the growth of manufacturing can activate the labor movement. In fact, as a result, some newly industrialized countries including South Korea and China have also experienced labor upsurge in a large scale. However, in Malaysia, which has also been remarkably industrialized since the 1970s, there does not necessarily exist a strong labor movement. This paper seeks to explore the reason why the labor movement in Malaysia is so weak even though manufacturing has clustered. Firstly, the brief history of Malaysian labor movement is reviewed and the labor movement in Malaysia used to be very active in the past. Secondly, taking into account various social factors such as class relations, organizations, institutions, networks, and the state, the cause of the weak labor movement in Malaysia is clarified. Thirdly, examining the recent process of the enactment of minimum wage law in Malaysia, this paper clarifies that the labor movement did not necessarily affect the enforcement of minimum wage law but the government primarily took the initiative to decide its enactment. Lastly, this paper tries to examine the possibilities to support the labor movement through various measures for resource mobilization, and to analyze how the recent deterioration of economic inequality can affect workers and their movement in order to define the social conditions of labor insurgency in Malaysia.