The Myth of Chinese Capitalism: The Worker, the Factory, and the Future of the World

The untold story of how restrictive policies are preventing China from becoming the worlds largest economyDexter Roberts lived in Beijing for two decades working as a reporter on economics, business and politics for Bloomberg Businessweek. In The Myth of Chinese Capitalism, Roberts explores the reality behind todays financiallyascendant China and pulls the curtain back on how the Chinese manufacturing machine is actually powered.He focuses on two places: the village of Binghuacun in the province of Guizhou, one of Chinas poorest regions that sends the highest proportion of its youth away to become migrants; and Dongguan, Chinas most infamous factory town located in Guangdong, home to both the largest number of migrant workers and the countrys biggest manufacturing base. Within these two towns and the people that move between them, Roberts focuses on the story of the Mo family, former farmersturnedmigrantworkers who are struggling to make a living in a fastchanging country that relegates onehalf of its people to secondclass status via household registration, land tenure policies and inequality in education and health care systems.In The Myth of Chinese Capitalism, Dexter Roberts brings to life the problems that China and its people face today as they attempt to overcome a divisive system that poses a serious challenge to the countrys future development. In so doing, Roberts paints a bootontheground cautionary picture of China for a world now held in its financial thrall.Dexter Roberts is an awardwinning journalist and a regular commentator on the U.S.China trade and political relationship. His prior speaking engagements include traditional news media outlets (NPR, Fox News, CNN International) as well as universities and institutes (George Washington University, Council on Foreign Relations, and the Overseas Press Club).He is available for virtual classroom visits to courses that adopt The Myth of Chinese Capitalism. Please contact academic@macmillan.com for more information.