This is the first major work specifically on labor issues in China's burgeoning information and communications technology (ICT) industry. As such, it is a most welcome addition to the field of Chinese political economy and the political economy of development more broadly. While Yu Hong thus enjoys first-mover advantage, her book seems, at points, not quite ready for the limelight. Such roughness around the edges aside, the research and data are impressive and the empirical contributions substantial.
The overall arc of the book moves from a discussion of why earlier studies have largely overlooked key aspects of labor politics in China's ICT sector, to an analysis of the ICT sector's place in China's broader political economy, to a thorough investigation of the micro-level dynamics of labor management and working class society in the sector, to finally a speculative conclusion on the sustainability of China's particular model of development (with a...
