Working Class History2 Juli 2025

E106: [TEASER] Radical Reads – China in Global Capitalism

This is a teaser preview of one of our Radical Reads episodes, made exclusively for our supporters on patreon. You can listen to the full 122-minute episode without ads and support our work at https://www.patreon.com/posts/e106-radical-in-129688227

In this episode, we speak to Eli Friedman and Kevin Lin about their new book, China in Global Capitalism: Building International Solidarity Against Imperial Rivalry. The book (co-written with Rosa Liu and Ashley Smith) does an excellent job of looking at the actions of the Chinese state from the perspective of workers and marginalised groups to produce a picture of a capitalist nation that is not simply 'the same' as other nations, but not all that different either.

The full episode is out longest Radical Read yet, and covers a range of topics from the conditions and struggles of China's working class both inside the workplace and out, to women's and LGBT+ rights. We also talk about China's relationship to its "internal peripheries" of Tibet and Xinjiang, as well as its international relationships in Africa, Israel and, of course, with the US. We also discuss what building international solidarity from below might look like in the current context.

Listen to the full episode here:

E106: Radical Reads - China in Global Capitalism

More information

Buy China in Global Capitalism from an independent bookshop
- You can also buy Eli’s previous book, China on Strike: Narratives of Workers’ Refusal
Check out our excellent collection of books about Chinese history and politics in our online store
Listen to a three-part series about Chinese migrant worker poetry by our sister-podcast, Working Class Literature
Full show notes for this episode, including further reading and listening, as well as sources, are available on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e106-radical-reads-china-in-global-capitalism/

Acknowledgements

Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Fernando Lopez Ojeda, Nick Williams and Old Norm.
The episode image is of the G.Tech Technology Factory in Zhuhai, China. Credit: Chris (with additional design by WCH). CC BY-SA 2.0.
Edited by Tyler Hill
Our theme tune is Montaigne’s version of the classic labour movement anthem, ‘Bread and Roses’, performed by Montaigne and Nick Harriott, and mixed by Wave Racer. Download the song here, with all proceeds going to Medical Aid for Palestinians. More from Montaigne: website, Instagram, YouTube

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