Elaine Hui

Professional Bio

Elaine’s research focuses on work and labor relations, labor and social movements, labor organizations, civil society, migration, class politics, and state–society relations, with particular attention to China and the United States. 

She has examined the role of the state and laws in labor relations, worker collective actions and their impact on institutional arrangements (e.g. collective bargaining and trade unions), labor-oriented civil society actors, and the social welfare system, with a primary focus on China. She has also researched labor relations in Vietnam, including pension system, strikes, and labor organizations. 

Her recent research focuses on labor and capital mobility in the context of China’s expanding global political-economic power and growing tensions between China and the U.S. One ongoing project examines labor relations in Chinese multinational corporations operating in the U.S., while another investigates irregular migration among Chinese workers to the U.S.  

She has published in peer-reviewed journals such as Theory and Society, Human Relations, British Journal of Industrial Relations, China Quarterly, Journal of Industrial Relations, and Journal of Contemporary Asia. She published the book, Hegemonic Transformation: The State, Laws, and Labour Relations in Post-Socialist China (palgrave.com/br/book/9781349700196). 

Elaine is the Director of the Center for Global Workers’ Rights at Penn State, which is affiliated to the Global Labour University. She is a board member of Labor History and the Global Labour Column. Additionally, she served as a council member of the Marxist Sociology Section of American Sociological Association (2020-2022), a steering committee member of the Global Labour University (2023-2025), and an associate editor of Critical Sociology (2024-2025). 

Awards:

10 top most cited papers (from 1 Jan 2022 to 31 Dec 2023), British Journal of Industrial Relations. 

Honorable Mention, Distinguished Article Scholarly Award, Labor and Labor Movement Section of American Sociological Association (2021)

Career Development Award, the Center for Global Studies, Penn State (2018)

Citation of Excellence award, Emerald Group Publishing Limited (2015).

Research grant:

Labor mobility / Irregular migration among Chinese workers 

 “Chinese Irregular Migrants Amid U.S. Political and Racial Divisions”, McCourtney Institute, Penn State, $7,500 (2026-2027) 

"Undocumented Chinese Migrant Workers in the United States," Competitive Research Grant, LER School, Penn State, $5,000 (2025-2026) 

Capital mobility / Labor relations in Chinese MNCs 

 “What drives successful unionization in Chinese MNCs in the US?”, College of Liberal Arts, Penn State, $4,500 (2025) 

"Impact of Chinese Multinational Corporations in the US on Industrial Democracy," McCourtney Institute, Penn State, $4750 (2024) 

"Creating What Types of Jobs? Chinese Multinational Corporations in the US," College of Liberal Arts, Penn State, $8,540 (2022-2023) 

"Labor Strategies of Chinese Companies in the US," College of Liberal Arts, Penn State, Universities and Colleges, $6,000 (2021-2022) 

"Labor Strategies of Chinese Companies in the US," Center for Labor and Global Workers' Rights, Penn State, $7,500 (2021-2022) 

Other projects 

"2018 Career Development Award," The Center for Global Studies, Penn State, $2,000 (2018) 

"Post-tenure funds," College of Liberal Arts, Penn State, Penn State, $5000 (2023-2025) 

"China's Labor NGOs under Xi Jinping," Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation, $16,000 (2018-2022) 

"Shock Therapy Authoritarianization: The Case of Hong Kong and its Labor Relations," Center for Global Studies, Penn State, $4,000 (2024) 

Recent publications:

Hui, E. S. I., & Tse, F. Y. (2025). Industrial relations in Chinese multinational corporations in Europe: A regional lens. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 31 (2): 141-160. 

Hui, E. S. I., & Tse, F. Y. (2025). Edited special issue "China’s Influence on Industrial Relations in Europe and Beyond", European Journal of Industrial Relations, 31(2). 

Hui, E. S. I., & Chen, W. X. (2025). The Rise and Fall of Student Labor Activism in Authoritarian China. Journal of Contemporary Asia. 

Hui, E. S. I. (2022). Bottom-Up Unionization in China: A Power Resources Analysis. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 60(1), 99-123. 

* 10 top most cited papers (from 1 Jan 2022 to 31 Dec 2023), British Journal of Industrial Relations 

Chan, C.K.C, & Hui, E. S. I. (2022). Pension Systems and Pension-driven Strikes in Post-Socialist China and Vietnam: A Comparative Study. Journal of Contemporary Asia, online.  

Hui, E. S. I., & Chan, C.K.C. (2022). From Production to Reproduction: Pension strikes and changing characteristics of workers’ collective action in China. Journal of Industrial Relations, 64(1), 3-25.  

Hui, E. S. I. (2021). Movement-Oriented Labor NGOs in an Authoritarian Regime: The Case of China. Human Relations, 75(7), 1354–1382. 

Hui, E. S. I. (2020). Understanding the Role of Labor-Related Civil Society Actors in China. Theory and Society, 49(1), 49-74. 

Hui, E. S. I. (2018). Hegemonic Transformation: The State, Laws, and Labour Relations in Post-Socialist China. (266 pp). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. 

Chan, C.K.C., Hui, E. S. I. (2017). Bringing Class Struggles Back: A Marxian analysis of the state and class relations in China. Globalizations, 14(2), 232-244. 

Hui, E. S. I. (2017). Putting the Chinese State in Its Place: A March from Passive Revolution to Hegemony. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 47(1), 66-92. 

Hui, E. S. I., & Chan, C.K.C. (2016). The influence of Overseas Business Associations on Law-making in China: A Case Study. The China Quarterly, 225, 145-168. 

Hui, E. S. I. (2016). The Labour Law System, Capitalist Hegemony and Class Politics in China. The China Quarterly, 226, 431-455. 

Hui, E. S. I., & Chan, C.K.C. (2015). Going beyond the Union-Centred Approach: A Critical Evaluation of Recent Trade Union Elections in China. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 53(3), 601-627. 

Chan, C.K.C., & Hui, E. S. I. (2014). The Development of Collective Bargaining in China: From ‘Collective Bargaining by Riot’ to ‘Party State-led Wage Bargaining. The China Quarterly, 217, 221-242. 

Chan, C.K.C., & Hui, E. S. I. (2014). The politics of labour legislation in southern China: How foreign chambers of commerce and government agencies influence collective bargaining laws. International Labour Review, 153(4), 587-607. 

Chan, C.K.C., & Hui, E. S. I. (2012). The Dynamics and Dilemma of Workplace Trade Union Reform in China: The Case of the Honda Workers' Strike. Journal of Industrial Relations(54), 653-668. 

* Citation of Excellence award, Emerald Group Publishing Limited. (2015). 

Hui, E. S. I.& Chan, C.K.C. (2012). The ‘Harmonious Society’ as a Hegemonic Project: Labour Conflicts and Changing Labour Policies in China. Labour, Capital and Society, 44(2), 154-183.