This book develops an understanding of workplace justice and labour rights in Vietnam from factory workers’ voices and their resistance against abuse and exploitation. Through interviews with workers and a close analysis of their letters and petitions to the unions and state authorities, Nguyen illuminates how workers’ resistance is enabled and stifled by the legal and political systems that are supposed to protect their rights and benefits. Their calls for justice reflect socialist ideology and widely held norms within society, as well as ideals and values embedded in labour law. The book demonstrates how state law brings about social change through shaping workers’ expectations and increasing consciousness of rights and justice.
This book will be of interest to scholars of law, politics and society, and scholars, students and practitioners interested in labour rights in developing countries.