Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China
Ratings12
Average rating3.8
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.
Factory Girls was published in 2008, since then the number of China's migrant workers has only increased. As of 2019 China has 290 million migrant workers (ref), which represents a staggering 20% of its population. That's a huge economic and societal transformation over the last decades, and Chang's books presents a candid portrait of this new societal class.
The majority of the migratory workers are girls coming from rural villages, who set out to support their families by working in factories in China's industrial south. They sleep in crowded dorms, and work 10-12 hours a day, fabricating electronics, handbags, shoes on the assembly line. They are ambituous and constantly try to improve their skills with English or confidence-building classes. They learn to switch jobs fast, when opportunities arise. If they are clever and have the right height, age and look, they receive promotions from the factory floor into the management offices.
The ubiquitous motto in factory towns is “trust no one” and “make money fast”. Bus drivers try to trick their riders out of their fares. Teachers set up English schools, without knowing any English themselves. The fixation on money-making and the low importance of morality is a fertile ground for pyramid schemes to take off. One of the most successful books in China's recent past is “Square & Round” and basically teaches how to scam your way upwards.
While a lot about this world sounds dark and dire to Western eyes, Chang does a good job at highlighting how these jobs help transform the fates of young Chinese women. If they had stayed in their villages, their lives would have been controlled by their families. Now as they earn their own money, support their families back home, and experience independence, their convidence levels grow and their status improves.
Great portraits, fascinating topic, great read. I'd only say it maybe was slightly too long and that Chang's own personal family story felt a bit out of place.
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.