Workers’ Self-identity Transition And Reconstruction Of State-owned Enterprises In The Context Of Transformation Of Unit System

The unit system is an important institutional arrangement of China’s plannedeconomy era. On the one hand, the State, through organizing national mainstreamideology and values, penetrate deeply into the subject of workers, effectivelyovercome the evil of Chinese traditional perfunctorily and achieve the purpose ofcontrolling society and social integration. On the other hand, the unit system is aspecial authority form to assume state power and redistribution of the benefits. Itdetermines people’s identity, occupation, economic strength, concept of value,behavior and social status, which is the effective path for workers to obtain the highincome, the superior political rights, rich cultural life and decent status. It describes thespecific way of being members of society and form workers "identity" under thebackground of units system. However, because of the social reformation and openingup, especially since in the1980of the20th century, China enters the rapid period ofsystem transition and transformation of social structure. Those give mechanicalsolidarity as the main unit of maintaining ties great impact, resulting in units ofdigestion. So the unit workers’ life and social structure have undergone great changes.The layoffs, unemployment and buyout have become the most daily expression ofgroups of workers in State-owned enterprises. Workers in State-owned enterprisesgradually become the social status of low-income groups, which tend to bemarginalized and their living condition tend to be hollowed out. The sense ofsuperiority of workers in state-owned enterprises has disappeared. My researchinterest lies in the objective dimension of social context, trying to explore the socialgroups of laid-off workers in State-owned enterprises the subjective dimension ofpsychological facts. I want to find and resolve the following issues: what changeshave taken place on the status of laid-off workers in State-owned enterprises groups?What is the specific reason? How the self-consciousness of the laid-off workers inState-owned enterprises? How of their self-evaluation and identification now? Whatdo other members of the society think of cognitive changes of the social status of theState-owned enterprise workers? When state-owned enterprise groups of workerslose their "proper" identity, how to adjust and rebuild their lives structure after theirown psychological conflicts? On the basis of field investigation, we find that throughthe social comparison, on the one hand, the marginalization in which laid-off workersin State-owned enterprises has a clear status of self cognition. They think ofthemselves as "bottom class","vulnerable groups", but refused to agree on thesubjective consciousness. On the other hand, they also have fixed consciousness under the influence of units."Marketers, and worse than others": this spiritdistinguishes the identity between the farmer groups and the working groups.However, other members’ evaluation for laid-off workers in State-owned enterprises,as a "oppressive" strength of the community on the identity consciousness of thelaid-off workers in State-owned enterprises which plays strong social constructionroles. In a certain sense that "forced" them passively to accept the situation at thattime. At the same time, the groups take some adjustment actively in order to eliminateof "cognitive dissonance". They have some ways, for example, through thestrengthening of community identity, community cultural activities to enrich theircultural life in entrepreneurship and self—improvement of daily life, in order toreconstruct their identity status to achieve.