Factory Girls Chapter Summary
analytical Essay
521 words
The theory of the modern world system introduced by E. Wallerstein is a theory that demonstrates a social system that classifies the globe’s nations under the categories of core nations, periphery nations and semi-periphery nations. This theory helps to explain a global economy that is made up of smaller components. China falls under semi-periphery, which is a nation that is a combination of the core and periphery categories. Semi-peripheral nations tend to be industrialized and because of this most of these countries are capitalists. Semi-peripheral nations also serve to negotiate interactions between the core and periphery nations. In Factory Girls, Leslie Chang, a Chinese American journalist, writes about her experience following the lives of Chunming and Min, two migrant factory workers working in Dongguan a well known industrial city in Southern China. To express China’s economic growth, Chang utilizes her conversations with Chunming and Min about their history and future. Living in the city starts off as a culture shock for the girls, but it eventually wares off as they get assimilated to city life and working. Even though these people are leaving, they send money to help …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Explains the theory of the modern world system introduced by e. wallerstein, which demonstrates a social system that classifies the globe’s nations under the categories of core nations, periphery nations and semi-peripheries.
- Analyzes how leslie chang, a chinese american journalist, writes about her experience following the lives of chunming and min, two migrant factory workers working in dongguan.
- Analyzes how chang describes the living conditions as a cramped dormitory. the typical factory worker is nave and uneducated, believing that if they say something, they will lose their wages.
- Analyzes how friendships are difficult to make and maintain in the ever-changing world of factory life. this statement alone describes the isolation and loneliness that many migrant workers face.
- Analyzes how employers discriminate when it comes to hiring new workers. they warn off people from different provinces, which means there are vacancies.
Many workers do not complain about the poor working conditions and one of the main reasons factory owners are able to get away with this is because the typical factory worker is naïve and uneducated. They believe that if they say something, then they will lose the wages they receive. Most factory workers have family counting on them to send money and working in the factory pays better than having a rural job. “Across the Chinese countryside, those plowing and harvesting the fields are elderly men and women, charged with running the farm and caring for the younger children who are still in school. Money sent home by the migrants is already the biggest source of wealth accumulation in rural China” (Chang, 2008, p.
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- Analysis Of Factory Girls By Leslie T. Changanalytical essay“Factory Girls” by Leslie T. Chang provides an inside look on migration in the inner cities of China. The book follows the lives of women who have left their home villages to work in factories. Primarily, Chang focuses on the lives of two women, Min and Chunming. Min left her village at the age of sixteen with her older sister to chuqu, or to go out, and see the world. She often changed jobs while in Dongguan because she is never satisfied with her position. Chang met Chunming at a dating agency where men and women could mingle with one another. Chunming began her career at a toy factory. In her diary, she often wrote out the goals she wanted to accomplish and how to accomplish them. She was very determined to become successful. Her persistence
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how chang emphasizes discrimination with the large gender divide in dongguan.
- Recommends "factory girls" for those seeking to gain knowledge about china's migrants and the everyday life of a worker.
- Analyzes how leslie t. chang's "factory girls" provides an inside look on migration in the inner cities of china.
- Analyzes how chang's family demonstrates traditional chinese culture where women were not a part of the workforce.
1391 wordsRead More - Free Speech, Censorship, and Self Determination Issues in Protests against the Chinese Governmentopinionated essayYet, you also hear reports of corruption, of large and growing underclass, and renewed repression. It seems that partly fueling China's engine of growth is a near inexhaustible supply of cheap and desperate labor spawned by the closing of state owned enterprises (S.O.E.s) and an impoverished rural population. These hardships have spawned a migrant labor population, estimated to swell to 100 million this year, that has flooded urban centers looking for work. These workers are denied education, medical care, pensions, are locked out of most jobs, and are vulnerable to labor abuses.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that they admire the african american culture that spawned the civil rights movement.
- Analyzes how the chinese government has been relentless in "nipping" factors that undermine social stability in the bud, no matter where they come from. many human rights organizations and dissident organizations have turned to the internet to protest these government actions.
- Opines that they should be a staunch supporter of protests and freedom of speech, but they are torn. china is undergoing rapid and violent change.
- Opines that china's economy is fuelled by a near inexhaustible supply of cheap and desperate labor spawned by the closing of state owned enterprises and an impoverished rural population.
- Reports that in 2002, labor and peasant protests were breaking out in the country almost every day with one reaching up to 50,000 in size.
- Explains that internet access in china is censored with incoming and outgoing traffic funneling through a small number of state controlled channels.
- Explains that human rights organizations and chinese dissidents were early adopters of internet technology. amnesty international chronicles labor unrest and the suppression of rights to freedom of association and expression.
- Explains that chinese dissident groups have been more forward, including tiananmen mothers campaign and human rights in china.
- Explains how dissident chinese e-zines tunnel and vip reference mass-mail to hundreds of thousands chinese addresses to provide intended recipients plausible deniability.
- Opines that the internet has represented an expansion of speech. people separated by oceans and time zones can quickly and cheaply share ideas, thoughts, and culture.
- Explains that our freedom of speech is guaranteed by the first amendment in the bill of rights with limits and clarifications defined by two centuries of law.
- Explains that freedom of speech is a contract between government and person. the bill of rights does not protect workers from legal reprisals by people who find their views offensive.
- Analyzes how some asian leaders argue that the enshrinement of freedom of speech is a western value, and that outside human rights organizations are usurping the countries' more fundamental right to self-determination.
- Opines that freedom of speech is a means for exposing injustice rather than an end in itself. the civil rights movement of the 60's used it to contest legalized segregation and inequality and later on to protest economic conditions.
- Analyzes how marx's capital provided us with a method for understanding the character of our oppression.
- Argues that the people of china do not know what is best for them and that human rights organizations and chinese dissidents are inciting and manipulating the chinese people.
- Argues that human rights organizations and chinese dissidents should have the write to communicate with the chinese people, but no similar international laws are universally recognized.
- Explains that the internet is a new communications space bounded by neither time nor space. one or more parties can choose to remain anonymous.
- Opines that unrequested communications such as spam are unjust. they put recipients in danger of detention and arrest by the chinese government while the senders are free to endanger yet more people.
- Opines that the chinese government still has the right to censor.
- Analyzes the disconnect between the dissident views on china and those of peasants and workers that they are erstwhile concerned with.
- Describes the dissidents' estrangement from their own generation in china and their successors at american universities.
- Opines that globalization and the internet have expanded the arena of our speech.
- Opines that human rights organizations and chinese dissident groups must have the right to freedom of speech, but they also have responsibility to use this new power judiciously.
- Cites amnesty international's "people's republic of china labour unrest and the suppression of the right to freedom of association and expression".
- Analyzes sami sillanpää's "rebellion swelling in china - new activist movement first since tiananmen" in helsingin sanomat.
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In this essay, the author
- Argues that globalization is not a new concept — trade, migration, market integration, and capital flows have been practiced in various forms dating back centuries.
- Explains that adam smith's wealth of nations, published coincidentally the same year as the declaration of independence, is considered by many economic scholars to be the early framework of capitalism.
- Explains that china's entry into the world trade organization (wto) in 2001 symbolized to the global community its country was a competitive trading partner.
- Explains that labor is one of the largest and in certain sectors the most expensive component in the production of goods. stable labor costs are important for long-term revenue projections to be relied upon by managers.
- Opines that critics of globalization often decry the exploitation of chinese workers who are forced to endure harsh working conditions and other violations of human rights.
- Explains that adam smith was concerned about government encroachment on private enterprise and skeptical of its role in mandating economic activities under mao's leadership in china.
- Explains how deng xiaoping's shift to becoming a globalized nation began in the late 1990s and early 2000s. he relaxed government regulations, dismantled socialistic culture, and removed barriers to foreign investments.
- Opines that adam smith would be pleased with the economic and societal changes that have taken place in china over the last fifteen years.
- Explains that the china market research group published official government statistics confirming the substantial increases in chinese incomes and average standard of living.
- Acknowledges that not every citizen of china has reaped the same benefits as their big city counterparts. however, companies have started to expand outside the metropolitan areas.
- Opines that there is no greater mechanism for improving poor societies than that of international economic development. globalization has done more to lift millions out of poverty than the billions of dollars allocated for foreign aid.
- Explains that china's middle-class boom - cnn money. retrieved march 3, 2014. penn state university (2005).
- Cites the u.s. bureau of labor statistics' report, manufacturing in china, and the world bank group's article, remarkable declines in global poverty, but major challenges remain.
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In this essay, the author
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- Opines that the shift away from the american century to an asian or chinese century may not become a reality due to the growth of the world brought by globalisation.
- Argues that china is the only state that could conceivably eclipse american hegemony in the 21st century. china's one party socialist republic, and system of five year plans, has allowed widespread development and reforms.
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- Analyzes how economic consequences of globalization accentuate inequality more so than any other consequence of international relations.
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1640 wordsRead More - The Jungle Analysis Paperanalytical essayInadequate wages for workers forced all members of the family to work in the factories. Children as young as eight years old worked. Wages were paid hourly and there were few limits as to how many hours workers were allowed to work. A family’s income was still low considering the amount of hours they worked. As a result, multiple families shared small apartments and living con...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that america, by the turn of the twentieth century, was regarded as the "land of opportunity," and lured thousands of immigrants.
- Explains that the migration of americans from farms to cities provided an abundant supply of cheap labor. industrialists saw no economic sense in a hazardless workplace.
- Explains that inadequate wages for workers forced all members of the family to work in the factories.
- Explains that factory owners were discouraged from maintaining a clean and safe workplace due to the surplus of workers. the meat packing industry was the worst.
- Analyzes how upton sinclair vividly depicts the harsh and hazardous conditions of the meat packing factories in his novel, the jungle.
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662 wordsRead More - Business Analysis of Tescoexplanatory essayGlobalization involves a variety of links expanding and tightening a web of political, economic and cultural inter-connections. Most attention has been devoted to merchandise trade as it has had the most immediate (or most visible) consequences, but capital, in and of itself, has come to play an arguably even larger role than the trade in material goods. Human movements also link previously separate communities. Finally, there is the cultural connection. All the individual data would indicate that we are undergoing a process of compression of international time and space and an intensification of international relations. The separation of production and consumption that is the heart of modern capitalism appears to have reached its zenith. Globalization is not just another "buzz-word" (globaloney), but very much a real and significant phenomenon.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that it will be advantageous for businesses to have personnel who can negotiate successfully in a customer’s own language and who are also sensitive to cultural differences. recruiting practices may change in response to the facility to recruit across borders.
- Explains that masculinity is a reality in greece in relation to hofstede's model.
- Summarizes hofstede's 2001 book, culture’s consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organisations across nations.
- Explains that cooperate to compete globally, harvard business review, march-april, 1986, pp.136-152.
- Explains that globalization involves a variety of links expanding and tightening the web of political, economic and cultural inter-connections.
- Explains that it is important to understand the direction and the stability of the environment that we try to get into.
- Explains that tesco is one of britain's leading food retailers and has 586 stores. since 1992, it has grown greatly and increased its market share from 10.4% to 15.2%.
- Explains that tesco started an over seas investment program since 1994, but success did not come. the competition and cultural differences were the main reason of failure.
- Explains that tesco is a profitable company, which has seen steady growth over the years in uk and is now expanding worldwide.
- Explains that fundamental economic changes are altering lifestyles, increasing incomes and heightening demand for food convenience and variety.
- Explains that greece is making the transition from a centrally planned, largely government-controlled economy to one that is more market oriented.
- Explains that the retail food sector in greece is changing rapidly with the emergence of new international chains and mergers of existing companies.
- Explains that the greek supermarket/department store market is becoming more and more concentrated as mergers and buy-outs have stopped.
- Explains that the greek supermarket chain sklavenitis built the largest greek hyper-market in nea halkidona, on the outskirts of athens.
- Explains that cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures & alliances share at least two characteristics with the marriage trends of the post-world war ii ‘baby boomers’ generation.
- Explains that management academics and practitioners make empirical studies covering diverse industry sectors, time periods, and country samples. they highlight cultural and organisational complexities as critical factors behind mixed economic results.
- Explains that the dutch academician geert hofstede developed an empirical model of national culture, which has been widely utilised by management researchers and practitioners.
- Explains that masculinity expresses the extent to which the dominant values in society are ‘masculine’. the empirical study provided interesting information on several aspects of organisational culture.
- Explains that greeks are proud of their history and role as the first center of european civilization. they are friendly people, speak good english, and have an ancient god of hospitality.
- Explains that an introduction from an acceptable institution, company or associate is the key to doing business in greece.
- Explains that international business has proved to be the most dynamic area of business studies, as new blocs emerge to create a radically different business environment.
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- Explains that sources of value creation in acquisitions: an empirical investigation, strategic management journal, 11, pp.431-446, and trompenaars f, hampden c, 1997, riding the waves of culture.
4088 wordsRead More - Neoliberalism And Capitalismanalytical essayCapitalism is the engine driving globalization. Therefore, the development of capitalism — from the age of mercantilism to today’s neoliberalism — is reflected in the way globalization has unfolded. Since the rise of mercantile capitalism in the 1500’s, the desire for profit has intensified the spread of people, commodities, ideas, images, culture, and capital across the globe. This process of global integration has brought (often by force) non-capitalist economies under the all powerful system of world capitalism that guides our lives today (Robbins 68).
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the development of capitalism, from mercantilism to neoliberalism, is reflected in the way globalization has unfolded. the desire for profit has intensified the spread of people, commodities, ideas, images, culture, and capital across the globe.
- Explains that the evolutionary path of globalization has been punctuated by periods of change in capitalism facilitated by the adaptive radiation of profit seeking technological advancement in transportation, communication, and warfare.
- Analyzes how imperialism and colonization spread people, ideas, and cultures around the globe at unprecedented rates.
- Explains that in core countries, the people were dispossessed of their means of production by enclosing common land, rendering many common people landless. the global elite were able to turn cheap raw products squeezed from the colonies into manufactured goods.
- Explains that the period of industrialization from the mid 18th to mid 19th century intensified the expansion of communication and transportation technologies that made the colonies easier to manage, subjugate, and extract from.
- Explains how space-time compressing tech innovations of the 1980s allowed transnational corporations to adopt more flexible approaches to sourcing labor, factories, and resources.
- Explains that neoliberal economics was popularized by the ragin administration and proliferated today by institutions such as the international monetary fund, world bank, and world trade organization.
- Explains that the deterritorialized nature of tncs due to post-fordism, coupled with neoliberal policies and the opening of new markets, has initiated an exponential increase in the global flow of capital.
- Analyzes how the transfer of power from the localized state, to deterritorialized tncs revels that, today, international corporations rule the world.
- Opines that capitalism has driven globalization and defined today's world. it will be fascinating (and possibly terrifying) to witness the impact of capitalism slowing down on our globalized world
923 wordsRead More - Factory Girls Leslie Chang Analysisanalytical essayFactory girls by Leslie Chang is a book that looks into the lives of two migrant workers in China, and the author carefully scrutinizes their journey in search for a better life. Having a sense of self-fulfillment, both of these characters desires success, and they will go above and beyond anything to reach their purpose in life---which is, transitioning into a higher class. With their independent-driven mind set, both are able to reflect upon themselves the necessity and extravagance appropriate to their knowledge. Both shows different flaws on how they handle economic exigencies, however they are able to face those with simplicity just by recognizing their dreams and ambitions. Nonetheless, both characters shows different innovation and
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how factory girls by leslie chang examines the lives of two migrant workers in china, and scrutinizes their journey in search for a better life.
- Analyzes how min's self-happiness complicates her economic exigencies due to the necessity of buying things for herself.
- Analyzes how min's sense of agency helped her gain different experiences, enabling her to enlighten herself. she denies all negativity behind the conditions of where she works because of goals and ambitions.
- Analyzes how chunming, a migrant worker, promotes self-purpose to herself and other struggling chinese workers.
- Analyzes how chunming and min amplify what is trying to portray with chinese migrant workers in chinese.
1366 wordsRead More - Globalization and Energy System in Indonesiaanalytical essayAn outstanding mechanism frequently used to interpret ‘Globalization’ is the ‘World Economy’. Back to the colonial age, the coinstantaneous behaviors of worldwide capitals and energy resources flowed from colonies to western countries has been regarded as the rudiment of the economic geography (Jürgen and Niles, 2005). Nowadays, the global economy was dominated by transnational corporations and banking institutions mostly located in developed countries. However, it is apparently that countries with higher level of comprehensive national strength are eager for a bigger market to dump surplus domestic produce and allocate energy resources in a global scale, thus leads to a world economic integration. This module was supported by several historical globalists (Paul Hirst, Grahame Thompson and Deepak Nayyer) ‘their position is that globalization is nothing new but more fashionable and exaggerate, a tremendous amount of internationalization of money and trade in earlier periods is hardly less than today.’ (Frans J Schuurman 2001:64).
In this essay, the author
- Describes how globalization has shaped energy systems in emerging economies and the global south.
- Explains that energy poverty in indonesia is becoming an ever-increasing pressure key point, a big stumbling block to national development.
- Analyzes how the definition of globalization was used after the cold war, when advanced nations exploited energy resources and stressed culture forms.
- Analyzes how globalization enlarges energy inequality and threatens global south energy governance.
- Explains that indonesia is a resource rich country with large fossil fuel and mineral reserves and suitable advantages of developing sustainable, environmental-friendly energy.
- Concludes that indonesia's energy system meets both risks and opportunities in globalization.
2356 wordsRead More