How China Picks Its Winners and Losers
China’s university entrance exam is one of the most competitive in the world — a reflection of the cutthroat reality of the country’s labor market.
9 Article(s) by: Daniel Cheng
Daniel Cheng is a former sociology PhD student and independent researcher on Chinese political economy and technology.
The Other Side of China’s Economic Miracle
China has witnessed the greatest stretch of growth and poverty alleviation in human history, made possible by the brutal exploitation of millions of workers. A new book recounts one of their lives, offering a glimpse into the dark side of China’s success.
Between Chinamaxxing and the Kill Line
A viral Chinese meme imagines Americans one mishap away from ruin, while American influencers fantasize about China as a frictionless techno-utopia. Each reveals less about reality than about shared economic anxieties.
How China’s Counterculture Went Online
A new book by the journalist Yi-Ling Liu documents the rise and fall of emancipatory politics on China’s internet and offers insights into the limitations of struggling for change online.
The Class Politics of Austerity
A new book by economist Clara Mattei explains why calls for governments to balance budgets and live within their means are often a thinly veiled justification for an assault on the poor.
We’re All Caught in the Land Trap
Jacobin sat down with the Economist’s Mike Bird to talk about his new book The Land Trap, on why land retains its centrality in our economy even into the digital age — and how land ownership cements existing inequalities.
The US-China Trade War Is Far From Over
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in South Korea yesterday to strike a deal to end the trade war between their two nations. Instead, China showed that it had learned from its rival how to use its economic heft as a weapon.
The Case for America With Some Chinese Characteristics
China and the US are currently locked in a dangerous rivalry, but things don’t have to be this way. We spoke to Dan Wang, the author of a new book which argues the two nations should learn from one another.
The US and China Are More Alike Than They Think
In the US, lawyers gridlock politics, and in China, engineers solely concerned with development steamroll individual liberties. A new book argues that both nations could learn from one another, but their rivalry is obscuring the social crises they share.