Tales of hope, tastes of bitterness : Chinese road builders in Ethiopia

China’s new globalism plays out as much in the lives of ordinary workers who shoulder the task of implementing infrastructure projects in the world as in the upper echelons of power. Through unprecedented ethnographic research among Chinese road builders in Ethiopia, Miriam Driessen finds that the hope of sharing China’s success with developing countries soon turns into bitterness, as Chinese workers perceive a lack of support and appreciation from Ethiopian laborers and state entities. The bitterness is compounded by their position at the margins of Chinese society, suspended as they are between China and Africa and between a poor rural background and a precarious urban future. Workers’ aspirations and predicaments reflect back on a Chinese society in flux as well as China’s shifting place in the world. Tales of Hope, Tastes of Bitterness: Chinese Road Builders in Ethiopia sheds light on situations of contact in which disparate cultures meet and wrestle with each other in highly asymmetric relations of power. Revealing the intricate and intimate dimensions of these encounters, Driessen conceptualizes how structures of domination and subordination are reshaped on the ground. The book skillfully interrogates micro-level experiences and teases out how China’s involvement in Africa is both similar to and different from historical forms of imperialism. Entangled in Lawsuits 110 Miriam Driessen 110 Entangled in Lawsuits 110 Miriam Driessen 110 Abstract and Keywords 110 Entangled in Lawsuits 111 Victims of the law 111 Entangled in Lawsuits 112 Entangled in Lawsuits 113 Entangled in Lawsuits 114 A Chinese reading of Ethiopian labor law 114 Entangled in Lawsuits 115 Entangled in Lawsuits 116 Entangled in Lawsuits 117 Entangled in Lawsuits 118 Entangled in Lawsuits 119 Entangled in Lawsuits 120 Entangled in Lawsuits 121 In court 121 Entangled in Lawsuits 122 Entangled in Lawsuits 123 Entangled in Lawsuits 124 (p.150) The role of wereda courts 124 Entangled in Lawsuits 125 Facing antagonism of the local state 125 Entangled in Lawsuits 126 Entangled in Lawsuits 127 Entangled in Lawsuits 128 Entangled in Lawsuits 129 Notes: 129 Entangled in Lawsuits 130 Speaking Bitterness 131 Miriam Driessen 131 Speaking Bitterness 131 Miriam Driessen 131 Abstract and Keywords 131 Speaking Bitterness 132 Eating bitterness 132 Speaking Bitterness 133 Speaking Bitterness 134 Speaking Bitterness 135 Speaking bitterness 135 Speaking Bitterness 136 Speaking Bitterness 137 Expectations and realities 137 Speaking Bitterness 138 Speaking Bitterness 139 Speaking Bitterness 140 From heroes to victims 140 Speaking Bitterness 141 Speaking Bitterness 142 Entering society 142 Speaking Bitterness 143 Speaking Bitterness 144 Speaking Bitterness 145 Notes: 145 Conclusion 146 Miriam Driessen 146 Conclusion 146 Miriam Driessen 146 Abstract and Keywords 146 Conclusion 147 Conclusion 148 Conclusion 149 Conclusion 150 (p.181) References 151 Miriam Driessen 151 (p.181) References 151 Miriam Driessen 151 (p.181) References 152 (p.181) References 153 (p.181) References 154 (p.181) References 155 (p.181) References 156 (p.181) References 157 (p.181) References 158 (p.181) References 159 (p.181) References 160 (p.181) References 161 (p.181) References 162 (p.181) References 163 (p.181) References 164 (p.181) References 165 (p.181) References 166 (p.181) References 167 (p.194) Index 168 Miriam Driessen 168 (p.194) Index 168 (p.194) Index 169 (p.194) Index 170 (p.194) Index 171 (p.194) Index 172 (p.194) Index 173 (p.194) Index 174 This is a study of the disappointments experienced by Chinese workers working on a multi-million-dollar road project in Ethiopia. China's activity in Africa has received a lot of negative coverage from western media, yet such characterizations have little bearing on the experiences of ordinary Chinese workers on the construction site. Drieseen finds that the Chinese on the ground do not dictate the terms in their encounters with the Ethiopians; more often than not the uncooperative Ethiopians are in a position to undermine the work of the Chinese Title Pages Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Pushed to Ethiopia 2 Preserving Purity 3 The Politics of Intimacy 4 Fashioning Ethiopian Laborers 5 Inspiring Indiscipline 6 Entangled in Lawsuits 7 Speaking Bitterness Conclusion References Index