Description
This engaging book sketches compelling portraits of contemporary life in Guizhou, one of China's poorest provinces, more than fifty years after the Communist revolution promised to change the lives of the country's rural and urban dwellers. Through an exploration of local history, economic disparity, migrant labor, village life, civil society, education, poverty, local governance, enterprise reform, the rebirth of religion, and the new-found wealth of a privileged few, this perceptive study allows readers a unique glimpse into the lives and perspectives of China's hidden majority.
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Having spent two years (1997-1999) in China's Guizhou province, Wright (Johns Hopkins U. School of Advanced International Studies) mixes interviews, case studies, policy analysis, economic data, and travelogues to draw a portrait of the economic and social realities of urban and rural denizens of China's "hinterland." After exploring the people's relationship with revolutionary history, he highlights the growing economic disparity between regions and between urban and rural settings. Finally, he looks at what his varied subjects hope for and believe about the future. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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