Table of Content

20 March 2025, Volume 45 Issue 2

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The Making of Consent to Produce AI：Labour Organisation Forms and Control Mechanisms in Data Annotating Industry

HUANG Hui

2025, 45(2):  1-31. 

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The rapid proliferation of generative AI models has sparked critical inquiry into the hidden precarious labour infrastructures that help sustaining their performance. This article draws on ethnographic research conducted in three Chinese AI companies to examine how the production of large-scale models is made possible through intensive，low-paid and precarious data work. It argues that AI production is underpinned by a project-based labour regime structured with insourcing，outsourcing and crowdsourcing as its main organizational forms. The regime has systematically weakened the autonomy of labor，exacerbated the instability of labor，and presented significant characteristics of labor alienation. Rather than overt resistance，workers tend to display consent and acceptance of precarious conditions. In order to conceal the essence of its labor exploitation，capital employs three main strategies of normative control to exert hegemonic power over labor in order to create “willingness” on the part of labor. This study explores how such consent is being actively produced. Gamification mechanisms reframe exploitative work as cognitively stimulating and competitive；task modularisation and fast-changing project cycles lead to cyclical deskilling，curbing worker leverage and occupational mobility； and the symbolic valorisation of AI work fosters a sense of meaning and belonging in otherwise marginal roles. These mechanisms operate as technologies of consent，embedding hegemonic control within the everyday organisation of AI labour. This paper uncovers the paradoxical reality in contemporary AI production：how capital manufactures consent to “make human work like machines so that machines can appear more human”. The findings extend classic labour process theory and contribute to a deeper understanding of labour organisation and control mechanisms in the age of artificial intelligence.

Algorithm Reconstruction：Algorithm Rule Driven Transformation of Labor Relations—Take the Y Platform’s Salary Reduction Incident as an Example

ZHENG Jiahao

2025, 45(2):  32-63. 

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Much of the existing research on platform algorithms defaults to a preexisting labor order and a monolithic relationship of control and resistance in labor relations，and lacksattention to the transformation of labor order itself. This paper establishes an analytical framework that the role of algorithms is coupled with labor-capital concerns，exploring how ranking algorithms facilitate transformation in labor-capital relations in the case study of pay cut at the Y online education platform. Before the reduction，the ranking algorithm allocated course resources based on teaching excellence，effectively increasing both platform revenue and teacher income. The wage reduction was implemented in two phases. In the mild salary reduction phase，through algorithm iteration，course resources were covertly redirected towards lower-paid teachers，achieving cost reduction while maintaining stability. During the mandatory pay reduction phase，in response to teacher resistance，the sequencing algorithm was iterated again to allocate course resources based on accurate identification of teacher risk of non-compliance. Throughout this process，the platform shifted from concerns on development to the ones on control，and the role of the algorithm transitioned from enhancing efficiency to exerting control. Labor relations underwent two transformations，sequentially manifesting as autocratic pluralism cooperation，autocratic pseudo-pluralism cooperation，and critical perspective cooperation，with the degree of labor-capital cooperation gradually decreasing. This article summarizes the capability of algorithms to drive transformation in labor relations as “algorithmic reconstruction”. Based on their ability to efficiently allocate resources，algorithms can iteratively change the expected outputs，shift roles，and thus flexibly adjust the way of resource are deployed，and then efficiently adapt to and achieve different organizational goals，and ultimately lead to the transformation of labor relations. This finding helps to advance the study of the dynamics of labor relations. Furthermore，given their critical role，algorithms must be viewed as labor rules that should be subjected to multi-party supervision and negotiation in order to better safeguard the rights of platform workers.

Reorganization Across Bureaucratic Boundaries: The Operation Mechanism of Manufacturing Labor Outsourcing Model

TIAN Yaxin

2025, 45(2):  64-91. 

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In China’s manufacturing sector， the labor outsourcing model has fostered a picture of employment that organizes free floating temporary workers in an orderly fashion. The question of how this seemingly paradoxical “controllable flexibility” occurs constitutes the research background of this paper. Applying the theory of network organization， the labor outsourcing model seems to break with the previous perception of a clear boundary between bureaucracy and market， and replaces it with a network organization form that combines bureaucratic control with market flexibility. This paper takes the standpoint of factories participating in labor outsourcing and examines by participatory observation how restructuring across bureaucratic boundaries occurs and develops. The research shows that factories and labor service companies are reorganized into a network organization of business docking， dual management and cross-crossing on the basis of open bureaucratic boundaries. The network responds to the employment uncertainty in two ways. On the one hand， the authorities open the vertical integration mechanism， set up labor coordination system of job matching from three aspects：mixing job placement， job adjustment， and personnel screening. While incorporating temporary workers into the assembly line， it opens up a coordination space that flexibly adjusts outsourcing jobs according to the actual situation of temporary workers. On the other hand， the bureaucracy opens up a horizontal extension mechanism to build an orderly temporary labor environment from three aspects: the paid opening of trial rights， the seamless operation of the position refill and the classification arrangement of the end of the construction period. While allowing temporary workers to freely enter and leave the factory， it ensures the stability and control of the factory production order. As a result， the manufacturing labor outsourcing model has the characteristics of controllable flexibility. Simultaneously， a controlled group of flexible workers is also produced as a tool for the manufacturing industry to cope with the uncertainty of employment environment.

Dishi and the Everyday Language Perspective and Method in Anthropology

ZHU Xiaoyang

2025, 45(2):  92-123. 

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In political practices related to space, phrases such as “considering dishi”（考量地势） and “grasping dishi ”（把握地势） are frequently employed by practitioners. The concept of dishi（地势，terrain） also serves as one of the expressions within the traditional Chinese political discourse of “shishuo ”（势说，strategic positioning）. This article begins with such everyday political language to discuss dishi within the broader context of contemporary social sciences. It starts with the political anthropological question of “how is ‘political science’ possible without taking the West as its departure？”， suggesting that the discourse of shishuo （势说） embedded in political life offers alternative pathways. By adopting an anthropological perspective rooted in everyday language, this study goes on to examine the political approach of shishuo， contrasting it with fundamental issues in Western social sciences， such as causal inference. The discussion of key elements in understanding shishuo--particularly the perspective of everyday language--draws inspiration from contemporary linguistic anthropology and perspectival anthropology， supported by ethnographic findings in linguistic anthropology and “fieldwork” experiences in literary translation. The study， grounded in the anti-reductionist premises of linguistic phenomenology， conceptualizes dishi as a “general picture” formed by the heterogeneous elements through “intermediary links”. It further argues that discourses of dishi often function as performative acts rather than descriptions of preexisting facts or conditions in the causal-inferential sense. In anthropological interventions， the discourse of shishuo and action are intertwined， rendering such discursive practices themselves methods for studying dishi. The final section explores dishi as a field research methodology. While the ontological and epistemological foundations of shishuo differ from those of mainstream social science methodologies， the paper contends that these paradigms--and even multiple paradigms--are mutually compatible at the level of fieldwork. Using mapping methods as an example， the paper in addition discusses the practical application of dishi-based approaches.

Degenerate Agon：Reflections on Civilization in Huizinga’s Theory of Play

SU Wan

2025, 45(2):  124-150. 

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Huizinga’s theory of play is often regarded as an imperfect foundational work of modern ludology due to its perceived excessive emphasis on Agon （competition）. However， revisiting Huizinga’s theoretical framework and historical context reveals that his theory of play is fundamentally a social theory addressing how humans coexist amidst competition， rather than strictly a cultural theory aimed at defining play itself. Between the two World Wars， in the face of cultural decay in social life and the intensifying hostile political competition， Huizinga drew upon Plato， Schiller， and Burckhardt， as well as incorporated the philosophy of reciprocity of the Annales school’s anthropology into his elaboration of the “Homo Ludens” concept. Huizinga expanded the non-utilitarian value of play in human civilization from individual aesthetic education to the level of group coexistence， presenting it as a messianic proposal to reclaim classical humanistic traditions and the ideal of peace. Huizinga conceived of play as a beneficial competitive state crucial to civilizational development. Within a broad comparative civilizational perspective， the competitions， contests， and rituals， typically depicted by classical anthropology as occurring between opposing groups， were seen to create universal cultural institutions， such as law， poetry， and myth. These institutions possessed cultural regulatory power precisely because they were structured within a framework of play， mitigating tendencies toward fragmentation and antagonism among groups. For Huizinga， a significant cost of modernity was the decline of play within social life， where intense competition for economic or political power has led to an excessive encroachment of the domain of seriousness （Ernst） into the domain of play （Spiel）， thus returning society back to its primitive state where only “prey” and “enemies” were visible， most dramatically manifested in the threat of “total war” to human civilization. Huizinga formulated this judgment against the backdrop of pre-World War II Germany’s increasingly unlawful diplomatic and military strategies. In contrast to Carl Schmitt， Germany’s leading jurist who similarly expressed dissatisfaction with modern civilization through his pessimistic friendenemy distinction theory， Huizinga replaced the assumption of “political man” with that of “playing man”， and substituted the figure of the “enemy” with that of the “opponent，” offering humanity an ethically enriched， more optimistic perspective. Facing today’s intensifying divisions and competition across various fields， revisiting Huizinga’s theory of play can encourage competing actors to adopt a spirit of play that maintains seriousness， cultivating the cultural ability to balance freedom with order and political passion with ethical norms. This approach serves to reaffirm the fundamental consensus required for peaceful human coexistence.

The Impact of Financial Volatility on Social Change in Rural China：Based on Fei Xiaotong and Zhang Zhiyi’s “Three Villages in Yunnan” Survey

YANG Qingmei

2025, 45(2):  151-175. 

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The rural studies of the Yanjing School of Chinese sociology explored a range of topics such as the financialization of land， handicrafts and finance， and the qianhui（loaning society）. In 1938-1942， Fei Xiaotong and Zhang Zhiyi， the main members of the Yanjing School， investigated the rural areas of Yunnan and observed the social collapse of the villages in the interior as a result of the national government’s financial policies. The paper argued that the rural finance research of the Yanjing School included at least four aspects：（1） Cash flow transfers in rural communities；（2） Capital accumulation in rural industry；（3） Rural commercial capital；（4） Land financial issues. As inflation worsened， the corresponding changes in these areas showed that the urban financial crisis had a serious siphoning effect on rural societies. The paper pointed out that the Yanjing School， aware of the contradiction between the embedded character of the Chinese countryside and the dis-embedded nature of the world economy， did not want to see a system of financial corruption around the sitters， nor did it want to follow the fully marketized financial pattern of Western Europe， but rather attempted to explore a way to protect the rural society. Echoing Fei Xiaotong’s“dual-track politics” of the same period， the financial research of the Yanjing School was also characterized by a dual-track system. They realized that the “two-track system” of the small peasant economy and the market economy had become the main contradiction， and that in order to solve this contradiction， the market economy could not be used as the single logic and the main basis. In the face of the rapid onslaught of the capitalist market system， the transformation of the countryside should be a relatively slow process that could not be achieved at the expense of the countryside. What the rural finance research of the Yanjing School can teach us today is that Chinese finance should be a unique form that integrates the defense of society and the promotion of macroeconomic development.

Orders and the Origins of Monarchy: Montesquieu’s Inquiry of Feudal Law

XU Fangyi

2025, 45(2):  176-204. 

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In his seminal work The Spirit of the Laws， Montesquieu undertook a critical endeavor to trace the historical origins of modern monarchy， examining the formation of hierarchical structures and intermediary powers， and ultimately elucidating the governing logic of monarchy. His analysis centered on the establishment of feudalism as a process of “corruption of the polity” and how modern monarchies were constituted as “revolutions of the polity” on this basis. In the view of Montesquieu， modern monarchies were originated in the symbiotic bond between monarchs and nobles forged during the Germanic conquests， with hierarchy constituting the foundation of monarchical order. The fusion of vassalic military power and the property of fiefs gave rise to territorial jurisdiction， while the “independent liberty” of barbarians evolved into a “liberty under the law”. Crucially， the establishment of feudalism entailed a reconfiguration of monarchy itself: the primal “leader-loyalty” relationship between monarchs and vassals was supplanted by a fief-based “grant-protection” dynamic， fundamentally altering the nature of royal power. Through the pursuit of hierarchical equilibrium， reciprocal rights between monarchs and nobles were formalized. Mores centered on honor catalyzed institutional change， enabling the displacement of jurisdiction of the lords by royal jurisdiction through rationalized appellate systems. This process simultaneously shaped both monarchical power and the orders-epitomized by the robe nobility-that mediated its exercise. As a political government， monarchy’s defining feature lies in its reliance on intermediary orders for the execution of power. Monarchic authority is inherently generative: its institutional channels constitute the very fabric of society. As a modern social form， monarchy implies a society constituted by the spirit of hierarchy， which remained inextricably linked to state power， effectively rendering “society” an intrinsic dimension of the state. By intervening in historical debates about the origins of the nobles， Montesquieu not only gave a new understanding to monarchy as a form of government， but also advanced a historically grounded theory of the state.

Between “Life” and “Ideal”: An Outline of Durkheim’s Sociology of Action

ZHENG Yan

2025, 45(2):  205-240. 

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This paper attempts to systematically outline Durkheim’s sociology of action with the two core concepts of “life” and “ideal” as the main axis. Firstly， Durkheim’s sociology of action begins with a sociomorphological analysis and a sociopathological diagnosis of the crisis of modernity caused by the separation of thinking and action. He focuses on two major types of actors, namely intellectuals and citizens， as presented in his work Suicide. Secondly， through the analysis of core texts such as Ethics and the Sociology of Morals and The Elementary Forms of Religious Life， the paper points out that Durkheim’s action schema not only absorbs the routine actions carried out by citizens in their daily lives for the needs of their faith， but also includes the creative actions taken by sociologists to rebuild the common ideals in times of crisis. Thirdly， through an examination of Durkheim’s thoughts and actions during the Dreyfus Affair and the World War I， the paper further points out that the two types of actors and their iconography of action sketched by Durkheim are not isolated from each other but rather intertwined together. Only through the common communication and collective action between citizens and intellectuals can sociology break through the barriers of binary opposition between science and belief， thinking and action， body and mind under the conditions of modernity， thus expanding the boundaries of intellectuals’rationalism， while at the same time integrating the public needs into the orbit of civilization， and jointly creating sacred ideals that are appropriate to the times， and realizing the reconstruction and renewal of society. Finally， Durkheim’s reflection on the issue of action inherits and carries forward the intellectual tradition of French “political rationalism”， highlights the political concerns of sociology and the public responsibilities of intellectuals， and provides us with a model of “embodying one’s ideas with one’s actions” on how to think about social theories in our time.