Accidental Capitalist

A People’s History of the New China

Behzad Yaghmaian

In the last three decades China has experienced the largest population movement in human history. Millions have left behind homes to find work and new opportunities in the emerging mega-cities.

Through months of sustained interpersonal contact with migrant workers and factory owners, Behzad Yaghmaian paints a unique portrait of a country experiencing the turmoil of rapid development. His close listening has produced an intimate look at the hopes, hardships, triumphs and tragedies of those behind the Chinese ‘economic dragon’.

The Accidental Capitalist reveals the human reality behind China’s rise to global-superpower status. Yaghmaian articulates the collective narrative of a people which will resonate with anyone living under capitalism and provide valuable material to students and scholars.

Contents

Introduction: The Greatest Migration

BOOK I:
Tenants of Li Family, The Beautiful Rose Garden, The Li Family Village, The Portrait of Mao, Grandpa, The Communists Buried their Soldiers, The Great Famine, The Decorator’s Fortune, The Scent of Fresh Grass

BOOK II:
Migrant Girls’ Long March, Toy Factory Girls, I Want to See the World, The Great Flood, Bean Curds, I Will Be My Own Boss, Red Lanterns on the Mountain, A White Color Worker

BOOK III:
The Accidental Capitalist, Zhao Gang: The Declining Export-Processing Industries, Child Labor, Ancestor’s Tomb, Lujiang
Leaving for Shenzhen, Arise, You Prisoners of Starvation

BOOK IV:
A Man for All Seasons, Yue Haitao: Saving the World in the New China, Leaving Qingdao, Running to Die, Taking Side, Own a Piece of America, The Bastille Day

Conclusions
Index
 

About the Author

Behzad Yaghmaian is Professor of Political Economy at Ramapo College, New Jersey. He has taught in the United States, Iran and Turkey. He is author of Embracing the Infidel: Stories of Muslim Migrants on the Journey West, and Social Change in Iran: An Eyewitness Account of Dissent, Defiance, and Movements for Rights.