Driving toward Modernity by Jun Zhang

Author:Jun Zhang [Zhang, Jun]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Anthropology, Cultural & Social, History, Asia, China, Transportation, Automotive, General
ISBN: 9781501738425
Google: YalzDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 2019-10-15T03:30:17+00:00

“Upstairs” and “Downstairs”: Spatial Division, Work Routines, and Work Hierarchy

Space is a critical component with which social relations are produced (Lefebvre 1991). It is a tool of action and a field of struggle through which individuals’ subjectivity is shaped. Space of socialization and spatial contestation are critical to the production of class identity and boundaries (for example, Caldeira 2000; Low and Smith 2006). The tension between the “upstairs” people and the “downstairs” people at Auto-Fan is the reification of class politics in conjunction with spatial politics in the workplace.

Auto-Fan was located in an up-and-coming part of Guangzhou in the 2000s. It opened from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., 7 days a week throughout the year except during the 7-day Chinese New Year holiday. Such a schedule was not unusual among car dealerships. After all, in this city, many supermarkets, shopping centers, and restaurants operated 365 days a year.

The dealership was separated into several functional areas (see the floor plan in figure 5). Each area had its dress code, daily routines, and style of interaction.

On the ground floor, Auto-Fan was composed of two parts separated by a passage wide enough to pass a car through. The part facing the main road—the front—was mostly the showroom, with a small sitting area. A punch clock was mounted near the entrance to the street. The managers had made it clear that no employee should punch someone else’s card. If anyone were discovered doing so, both would be punished.

In the showroom, a large-screen TV looped a Peugeot commercial that depicted the scene of Paris with the “Sous le dôme épais” playing in the background. In the summer, this area was well air-conditioned, but it would usually be rather cold in the winter. This was the sales representatives’ area in the dealership.

Figure 5. Auto-Fan’s floor plan (not proportionate).

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