Professional Affiliation

Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia

Expert Bio

Manfred Elfstrom is Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Department of Economics, Philosophy, and Political Science at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus. His research concerns China, social movements, labor, and authoritarianism. He is the author of Workers and Change in China: Resistance, Repression, Responsiveness (Cambridge University Press, 2021). Dr. Elfstrom’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in China Quarterly, Comparative Politics, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Studies in Comparative International Development, and elsewhere. He has previously held postdoctoral positions at the University of Southern California’s School of International Relations and Harvard University’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. His PhD is from Cornell University. Before entering academia, Dr. Elfstrom worked for several years in the non-profit world, supporting workers’ rights and improved grassroots governance in China.

Wilson Center Project

China and the American Labor Movement

Project Summary

The labor movement in the United States has long struggled with how to approach China. For a period starting in the early 2000s, American unions and organizations supported sweatshop investigations and worker legal training in the P.R.C., while cautiously engaging the state-controlled All China Federation of Trade Unions. These initiatives have since wound down, amidst a crackdown on workplace activism in China. This project will use interviews with participants in previous labor outreach efforts, as well as with practitioners involved in other causes, such as environmental protection, to explore possible pathways forward.