Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China Decide Now

There is not a soul who will disagree that Leslie Chang's Factory Girls is valid now more than ever. To date, Microsoft and Apple continue to conveniently overlook the deplorable conditions of their factories in South China. Meanwhile, China has yet to actually enforce the laws it passed years ago regulating OT and improving working conditions. Only when the western media gets involved do the rich white CEOs of America suddenly become concerned and "vow to take immediate action" against the corrupt Chinese overlords they left in charge of their factories.

The paradox of this drama is that as long as Middle America continues its blind consumerism of the latest gadgets and "stuff", neither China nor the American CEOs who outsource to the PRC have any incentive to change. FDI and GDP are obviously more important than the well-being of some teenage migrant worker from Anhui. Just know, people, that someone in China suffered to get you your precious iPhone!

Leslie Chang did a good thing by publishing this book. However I do have to ask why only a Chinese-American who happens to be married to an over-hyped American author and have career connections to the world's most powerful media conglomerate can get a book like this published. What about the workers themselves? Are they so undeserving of being heard unless it's through the voice of a Harvard graduate? Were their diaries not worthy of being directly published? Such hypocrisy was not lost on me as I progressed through this book.

Factory Girls was heavily reviewed by Chang's pals in the mainstream press, which is probably the only reason why many of you have read it. But for anyone who really cares about this issue, I also suggest reading Ngai Pun Made in China: Women Factory Workers in a Global Workplace and Chun Yu Wang Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin: Diary of a Chinese Garment Factory Girl on Saipan, who offer more sincere, first-hand perspectives about life in China's factories but whose books lacked the million-dollar marketing campaign that Chang enjoys.Get more detail about Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China.