If you dig far enough down in the world economy today — and you won’t have to dig long — you come to the giant factories of China.
They are massive. Whole cities of production. They turn out a huge portion of every manufactured thing you touch and wear and use these days.
And the bulwark of those factories is a whole generation of young migrant women — factory girls — who have flooded from China’s poor countryside to the factory floor. Know them — and their dreams — and you know the new heart and mind of the world economy.
This hour, On Point: China’s surprising, ambitious factory girls.
-Tom Ashbrook
Guests:
Leslie T. Chang, author of “Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China.” She spent a decade in China as Beijing correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.
» Read an excerpt from “Factory Girls.”
Anthony Kuhn, NPR’s Beijing correspondent. You can hear his latest reports at NPR.org.
wondering what Leslie thinks about these jobs now going to Vietnam and even back to Indonesia, in some cases – because of inflation, big sneaker-makers & apparel companies are on the move again (wages reaching $100 per month when it is between 45 dollars in Cambodia and Bangladesh, 60 in Indonesia; 70 in Vietnam)
there is also noise coming from the Communist Party that all these foreign companies must accept the union (All China Federation of Trade Unions – ACFTU) – does Leslie think that having the union will actually lead to collective bargaining?
Posted by jeff, on October 10th, 2008 at 11:32 am EDTFascinating — also similar to the power that young women have in India when they go work in call centers. The Indian women also become the financial powerhouse in their family and obtain the ability to make decisions like who they will marry, see the movie “1-800-India”
I may have missed this part, but why are girls, more than boys, taking these jobs? Do employers prefer girls, or do boys avoid these jobs (are able to obtain better work)? In the situation in India, employers at the Call Centers prefer young women because they are more compliant.
Posted by Catherine Caldwell-Harris, on October 10th, 2008 at 11:43 am EDT@Catherine Caldwell-Harris
One of the reasis is because boys get the priority when it comes to family cash, so if a family can’t send everyone to college, only the boy goes. The girl stays behind and gets a job at one of these factories.
Posted by Chris Davaz, on October 10th, 2008 at 11:47 am EDTSorry forgot to add this point… and if the family is really strapped, nobody goes to college. The boy will join his father doing construction work in the big city. Lots of young guys doing construction (remodeling, etc) in China.
Posted by Chris Davaz, on October 10th, 2008 at 11:54 am EDTJust like Whole Foods has big pictures and blurbs about farmers who grew the produce sold in the stores, maybe other stores selling shoes, clothing etc. need to start introducing consumers to those who make those products.
Posted by AV, on October 10th, 2008 at 1:25 pm EDTFantastic show. I have been living in China for over a year, now in Sichuan working in microfinance since last summer. Listening to Leslie and her observations about this “new Cultural Revolution” in China has reinvigorated my enthusiasm about being in this country. Definitely going to recommend this broadcast and Leslie’s book to all my friends who are interested in China.
Thanks so much for yet another great episode, Tom.
Posted by Cowan Nar, on October 11th, 2008 at 12:25 am EDT[...] wrote as a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal (and currently garnering glowing reviews and widespread coverage), follows the lives of young rural women making new lives for themselves in the southern Chinese [...]
Posted by gatherthing » Blog Archive » China Annals: Factory Girls, on November 7th, 2008 at 11:32 am EST