Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China
Ratings7
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings7
Average rating3.9
An eye-opening and previously untold story, Factory Girls is the first look into the everyday lives of the migrant factory population in China.China has 130 million migrant workers--the largest migration in human history. In Factory Girls, Leslie T. Chang, a former correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Beijing, tells the story of these workers primarily through the lives of two young women, whom she follows over the course of three years as they attempt to rise from the assembly lines of Dongguan, an industrial city in China's Pearl River Delta.As she tracks their lives, Chang paints a never-before-seen picture of migrant life--a world where nearly everyone is under thirty; where you can lose your boyfriend and your friends with the loss of a mobile phone; where a few computer or English lessons can catapult you into a completely different social class. Chang takes us inside a sneaker factory so large that it has its own hospital, movie theater, and fire department; to posh karaoke bars that are fronts for prostitution; to makeshift English classes where students shave their heads in monklike devotion and sit day after day in front of machines watching English words flash by; and back to a farming village for the Chinese New Year, revealing the poverty and idleness of rural life that drive young girls to leave home in the first place. Throughout this riveting portrait, Chang also interweaves the story of her own family's migrations, within China and to the West, providing historical and personal frames of reference for her investigation.A book of global significance that provides new insight into China, Factory Girls demonstrates how the mass movement from rural villages to cities is remaking individual lives and transforming Chinese society, much as immigration to America's shores remade our own country a century ago.
Reviews with the most likes.
My first 5-star book of the year! Factory Girls is a powerful and eye-opening account of the lives of migrant workers in modern-day China. Written in 2008, the book provides a unique perspective on the experiences of young women who have left their rural homes in search of better opportunities in the cities. Through interviews and personal observations, the book delves into the challenges these women faced during China's period of hypergrowth in the early to mid-2000's, contrasting the grueling work conditions and desperate exploitation with ample opportunities for social mobility.
One of the strengths of this book is its humanizing portrayal of the workers, who are often seen as faceless and anonymous in the media. Chang brings their stories to life, highlighting their ambitions, hopes, and fears, and demonstrating the incredible resilience and determination they possess while navigating a rapidly changing economic reality.
Despite being written over a decade ago, many of the issues discussed in the book remain relevant today, as exemplified by recent worker protests at Foxconn triggered by the strict enforcement of no-COVID policies at that time.
In addition to its focus on the lives of migrant workers, Factory Girls also explores the author's family history, including her own experiences as a Chinese-American. Although I think this part could have easily been written as a separate book, it still provides a rich and fascinating insight into the experiences of the Chinese diaspora as well as the sufferings borne by those who stayed behind during the Cultural Revolution.
Overall, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in contemporary China and the lives of those who are driving its economic boom. It is a well-researched and insightful look on the realities of life for the millions of migrant workers sacrificed on the altar of globalization and serves as a stark reminder of the costs of rapid economic growth.
Chang spends three years in China, following the lives of several young women who have moved from rural China to find jobs and money and success and love in urban China. This is not the story I'd been expecting; city life turns out to be a big plus for most of the women in this book. Those for whom city life is not so well suited quickly return home, usually to try again on another day. For the most part, the women have a place to stay and are earning money. There are sad stories, too; companies close down and fail to pay their workers and women find they are working incredibly long hours for minimal pay. But the women generally begin to adjust to the six day work week and the long hours per day. Soon the women want to find ways to improve themselves and move up in the company hierarchy. This, too, is possible in the big city.
The only jarring note for me was Chang's side story about her own family; why was this included in this book? No one in Chang's family was a factory girl. Had I been Chang's editor I'd have saved this story for another book.
