I have prepared a working paper with a collaborator that shows how the Chinese state instrumentally designs and applies labor laws to not only atomize worker protest but also to quell worker unrest before it begins by channeling workers into petitioning the legal system for remuneration. Despite the state attempts to disrupt labor protest before it occurs, we find the state’s designs often have the opposite effect, as workers increasingly rely on extra-judicial methods to assert their newly given rights. This paper is nearing completion and will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal by October 2021.