戦間期上海租界労働問題におけるＹＷＣＡとＩＬＯの活動

――自己変革の思索とその実践――

抄録

The Shanghai Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) that conducted social work in Chinese society was accused of anti-imperialist, radical actions by the Chinese labor movement after the Shanghai riot on May 30, 1925. While Chinese trade unions endorsed the newly established International Labour Organization (ILO), this international legislation for labor standards could not ensure cooperation between the ILO and the Chinese Government and society; the reason being that any labor condition regulations, both domestic and international, did not exist in the International Settlement as extraterritoriality.

This paper clarifies the coordination between the ILO and Shanghai YWCA to remedy the lack of legislative protection that Chinese workers faced in the International Settlement of Shanghai. Although, the Factory Act was enacted in 1929, its enforcement was postponed because of Chinese industrial conditions’ conflict with extraterritoriality.

Traditional literature has focused on the conflict between national interests and international standards. This approach notes that international organizations’ activities were disrupted by power politics that sought unilateral interests. However, international organizations established after World War I were dysfunctional. I think that international organizations acquired innovative thinking during the Chinese National Revolution in 1920s. The fact is that the ILO and the YWCA aimed to create a Chinese Labour Inspection System as well as transform themselves from euro-centrism to international socialism.

Moreover, we need to consider the connection between Chinese nation building and introduction of ILO standards on both Chinese proper land and extraterritorial areas, particularly Shanghai’s International Settlement. The Chinese government aimed to demonstrate their legitimacy as a nation state by enforcing their labor regulations and inspecting foreign factories.

Historical examining the Chinese labor problem regarding extraterritoriality, this article explains that the Shanghai YWCA and the ILO’s activities indirectly influenced the improvement of the International Settlement’s social administration and attained the endorsement of enforcing Chinese factory inspection there.

Thus, a condition for reshaping multilateral cooperation with the newly established Chinese Government of Nanking in 1928 was created by this international coordination to enforce international labor standards in Shanghai.