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I am honored to put forward Poverty and Pacification: The Chinese State Abandons the Old Working Class for your forthcoming book club selection. This remarkable and meticulously researched work sheds light on one of the most dramatic yet underexplored social transformations of the late twentieth century. With both scholarly precision and heartfelt storytelling, Dorothy J. Solinger uncovers the lived realities behind China’s rapid modernization and the profound human cost that accompanied it.

Why This Book Belongs on Your Reading List
1. Urgent and Internationally Relevant Themes

In an era where economic restructuring, widening inequality, and labor insecurity dominate global conversations, this book offers an essential and illuminating perspective. Solinger examines the sweeping restructuring of China’s state-owned enterprises during the 1990s, a period when tens of millions of urban workers, once guaranteed lifelong employment and social welfare, were suddenly cast aside.

As China prepared to enter the global market and join the World Trade Organization, economic reform accelerated. Factories closed, jobs disappeared, and an entire generation of middle-aged workers found themselves without income, stability, or direction. The book thoughtfully explores how modernization, often celebrated as progress, can simultaneously generate displacement and social fragmentation.

This subject resonates far beyond China. Readers will inevitably draw parallels to deindustrialization in Western economies, privatization in post-socialist states, and the broader global consequences of market reform.

2. Exceptional Depth for Meaningful Discussion

This title offers rich material for dynamic and layered book club conversations. It naturally encourages exploration of complex questions such as:

What is the true cost of economic reform?

How should governments balance growth with social protection?

Can welfare systems function as both safety nets and tools of political stability?

Is social peace maintained through support—or through containment?

Who is accountable when policy decisions permanently alter millions of lives?

The examination of China’s Minimum Livelihood Guarantee (dibao)—introduced as a modest welfare measure to prevent unrest—adds a particularly provocative dimension. Members will have the opportunity to analyze whether such programs represent genuine compassion, political pragmatism, or a mixture of both.

Clubs drawn to political nonfiction, sociology, global studies, and social justice themes will find the material both intellectually rigorous and emotionally compelling.

3. Powerful Human Narratives

Although grounded in careful academic research, the book is far from abstract. Drawing from extensive interviews, Solinger gives voice to individuals who once believed their futures were secure under state socialism. These were factory workers who had devoted their lives to enterprises that promised cradle-to-grave protection, housing, healthcare, pensions, only to see those guarantees dissolve.

Through their stories, readers encounter the anxiety, resilience, frustration, and quiet endurance of those navigating sudden poverty and social invisibility. This human-centered approach ensures that discussions move beyond statistics and policies to the lived experience of dignity lost and survival regained.

It is this combination of analytical depth and emotional authenticity that makes the book particularly suitable for engaged group dialogue.

4. Broad, Cross-Disciplinary Appeal

This work will resonate strongly with clubs interested in:

Global politics and governance

Economic history and reform movements

Social inequality and poverty studies

Asian and Chinese studies

Public policy analysis

Comparative welfare systems

Human rights and labor issues

Its interdisciplinary relevance allows participants from varied backgrounds to contribute meaningfully to discussion.

Distinctive Contribution

What truly sets this book apart is its refusal to reduce economic transformation to abstract growth statistics. Instead, Solinger centers the individuals who were rendered expendable in the pursuit of national modernization. By closely examining the design, implementation, and evolution of the dibao system, she reveals how social welfare can serve both as relief and as a stabilizing mechanism for political order.

Few works capture so clearly the tension between economic ambition and human consequence. This layered analysis makes the book not only informative but deeply thought-provoking.

Suggested Discussion Questions

To guide conversation, your club might consider:

Can rapid economic modernization ever be fully ethical if it marginalizes a generation?

How do governments justify policies that prioritize growth over security?

In what ways does China’s labor restructuring resemble experiences in other countries?

Does welfare provision necessarily imply social justice, or can it function primarily as political management?

What responsibilities do states have toward citizens whose labor once sustained national development?

Poverty and Pacification offers far more than an account of China’s past. It provides a broader reflection on how societies navigate change, who benefits from transformation, and who bears its burdens. It challenges readers to consider progress not only in terms of economic achievement but in terms of human dignity.

I would be delighted to discuss placement opportunities and to provide supplementary materials, such as discussion guides, contextual briefs, and author background information, to enrich your club’s experience.

Thank you sincerely for your time and thoughtful consideration.
Poverty and Pacification: The Chinese State Abandons the Old Working Class
Dorothy J. Solinger

I recently watched a 3 part documentary that aired on PBS in the 1980s. It was fascinating. It really did highlight this factor. Communist China owed its existence because they dignified the workers and then they betrayed that.