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The Gilded Cage: Technology, Development, and State Capitalism in China
How China’s economic development combines a veneer of unprecedented progress with the increasingly despotic rule of surveillance over all aspects of life
Since the mid-2000s, the Chinese state has increasingly shifted away from labor-intensive, export-oriented manufacturing to a process of socioeconomic development centered on science and technology. Ya-Wen Lei traces the contours of this techno-developmental regime and its resulting form of techno-state capitalism, telling the stories of those whose lives have been transformed—for better and worse—by China’s rapid rise to economic and technological dominance.
Drawing on groundbreaking fieldwork and a wealth of in-depth interviews with managers, business owners, workers, software engineers, and local government officials, Lei describes the vastly unequal values assigned to economic sectors deemed “high-end” versus “low-end,” and the massive expansion of technical and legal instruments used to measure and control workers and capital. She shows how China’s rise has been uniquely shaped by its time-compressed development, the complex relationship between the nation’s authoritarian state and its increasingly powerful but unruly tech companies, and an ideology that fuses nationalism with high modernism, technological fetishism, and meritocracy.
Some have compared China’s extraordinary transformation to America’s Gilded Age. This provocative book reveals how it is more like a gilded cage, one in which the Chinese state and tech capital are producing rising inequality and new forms of social exclusion.
Since the mid-2000s, the Chinese state has increasingly shifted away from labor-intensive, export-oriented manufacturing to a process of socioeconomic development centered on science and technology. Ya-Wen Lei traces the contours of this techno-developmental regime and its resulting form of techno-state capitalism, telling the stories of those whose lives have been transformed—for better and worse—by China’s rapid rise to economic and technological dominance.
Drawing on groundbreaking fieldwork and a wealth of in-depth interviews with managers, business owners, workers, software engineers, and local government officials, Lei describes the vastly unequal values assigned to economic sectors deemed “high-end” versus “low-end,” and the massive expansion of technical and legal instruments used to measure and control workers and capital. She shows how China’s rise has been uniquely shaped by its time-compressed development, the complex relationship between the nation’s authoritarian state and its increasingly powerful but unruly tech companies, and an ideology that fuses nationalism with high modernism, technological fetishism, and meritocracy.
Some have compared China’s extraordinary transformation to America’s Gilded Age. This provocative book reveals how it is more like a gilded cage, one in which the Chinese state and tech capital are producing rising inequality and new forms of social exclusion.
416 pages, Paperback
Published November 21, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 12, 2024
The content of the book was interesting but the style of writing made it so hard to read. It was like the longest research paper I’ve ever read.
October 5, 2025
from Grok
轉型背景與驅動力：自 2000 年代中期起，中國應對 2008 年金融危機，政府推動科技導向發展，強調科學技術（S&T）為經濟核心。國家透過補貼、政策與監管，扶持高科技產業（如 AI、電動車、數字平台），同時壓制「低端」產業（如傳統製造）。這不是純粹市場驅動，而是國家主導的「國家資本主義」，融合民族主義、高現代主義、技術崇拜與精英治國理念。
鍍金籠的雙面性：
繁榮表象：科技帶來快速工業升級與經濟成長，讓中國成為全球科技強國（如華為、阿里、騰訊）。國家與科技巨頭形成「不對稱共生」關係，科技公司獲利豐厚，但須服從黨的控制。
黑暗內裡：加劇不平等與排斥。國家與企業使用數位工具（如監控軟體、算法評估）嚴格管理勞工，創造「996」工作文化（早 9 晚 9、周 6 天）。勞工面臨長工時、任意解雇與行為操控；「低端」勞工（如外賣騎手）被邊緣化，「高端」工程師也陷不安定。作者強調，這是「時間壓縮發展」的產物：中國在短時間內濃縮西方百年變遷，導致社會斷層。
國家控制的強化：政府擴大技術與法律工具，監測勞工與資本（如數字身份、信用系統）。科技公司雖強大（如滴滴、螞蟻金服），但易遭打壓（如 2021 年 IPO 叫停），證明「籠子」的不穩定。即使對科技「新鳥」，自由也有限。
書籍結構與精華洞見
書分多章，交織宏觀分析與微觀故事：
歷史脈絡：從鄧小平時代到習近平，探討國家如何從勞動密集轉向科技主導。
產業案例：分析高科技（如深圳矽谷）與數字資本主義（如平台經濟）的興起。
勞工與資本命運：透過訪談描繪勞工的焦慮（如工程師的「內捲」競爭）與企業的權力遊戲。
結論貢獻：對發展國家理論的對話，強調中國模式非單純威權或市場，而是獨特的「科技發展主義」，警示其對全球的影響（如 TikTok 禁令背後邏輯）。
總結：這書不只批判中國的「科技威權」，更反思資本主義在威權下的變異——繁榮伴隨牢籠，進步隱藏代價。精華在於：中國的崛起是國家與科技的共謀，勞工與社會卻成犧牲品。
轉型背景與驅動力：自 2000 年代中期起，中國應對 2008 年金融危機，政府推動科技導向發展，強調科學技術（S&T）為經濟核心。國家透過補貼、政策與監管，扶持高科技產業（如 AI、電動車、數字平台），同時壓制「低端」產業（如傳統製造）。這不是純粹市場驅動，而是國家主導的「國家資本主義」，融合民族主義、高現代主義、技術崇拜與精英治國理念。
鍍金籠的雙面性：
繁榮表象：科技帶來快速工業升級與經濟成長，讓中國成為全球科技強國（如華為、阿里、騰訊）。國家與科技巨頭形成「不對稱共生」關係，科技公司獲利豐厚，但須服從黨的控制。
黑暗內裡：加劇不平等與排斥。國家與企業使用數位工具（如監控軟體、算法評估）嚴格管理勞工，創造「996」工作文化（早 9 晚 9、周 6 天）。勞工面臨長工時、任意解雇與行為操控；「低端」勞工（如外賣騎手）被邊緣化，「高端」工程師也陷不安定。作者強調，這是「時間壓縮發展」的產物：中國在短時間內濃縮西方百年變遷，導致社會斷層。
國家控制的強化：政府擴大技術與法律工具，監測勞工與資本（如數字身份、信用系統）。科技公司雖強大（如滴滴、螞蟻金服），但易遭打壓（如 2021 年 IPO 叫停），證明「籠子」的不穩定。即使對科技「新鳥」，自由也有限。
書籍結構與精華洞見
書分多章，交織宏觀分析與微觀故事：
歷史脈絡：從鄧小平時代到習近平，探討國家如何從勞動密集轉向科技主導。
產業案例：分析高科技（如深圳矽谷）與數字資本主義（如平台經濟）的興起。
勞工與資本命運：透過訪談描繪勞工的焦慮（如工程師的「內捲」競爭）與企業的權力遊戲。
結論貢獻：對發展國家理論的對話，強調中國模式非單純威權或市場，而是獨特的「科技發展主義」，警示其對全球的影響（如 TikTok 禁令背後邏輯）。
總結：這書不只批判中國的「科技威權」，更反思資本主義在威權下的變異——繁榮伴隨牢籠，進步隱藏代價。精華在於：中國的崛起是國家與科技的共謀，勞工與社會卻成犧牲品。
August 26, 2025
這是啥破玩意兒啊，一鍋大雜燴，憑什麼能在哈佛社會學係拿終身教職？？？
November 11, 2025
Mediocre
November 4, 2025
Dust jacket cover
Fascinating look at China's economy. It has on-the-ground in-depth interviews with the software engineers working the 9-9-6 schedule along with a deep dive into the gig workers in China.
It turns out that wealthier workers with no siblings are happier with the labor arrangements in China.
Fascinating look at China's economy. It has on-the-ground in-depth interviews with the software engineers working the 9-9-6 schedule along with a deep dive into the gig workers in China.
It turns out that wealthier workers with no siblings are happier with the labor arrangements in China.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews