China has made enormous advances since the late 1970s, when Deng Hsiao-ping pushed economic reforms. These reforms raised the overall standard of living but also had major consequences for the country's workers. Roberta Zavoretti relates how Nanjing workers, rural–urban transplants who had lived for many years in the city, tell a story not conveyed through standard generalizations about urban versus rural workers or media-promoted depictions of the “rise of the middle class.” Her account brings an entirely new perspective that breaks down stereotypes of China's economic and social life in urban areas and explains how these developments reflect changing relations with rural communities.
The standard portrayal of “Chinese workers” has focused on factories, construction, and coal mines. In studies of urban workers, the focus invariably has been on industrial zones like Guangzhou. Workers are often depicted as transitory migrants from the countryside. As a social anthropologist, Zavoretti has sought another...
