Change and Conflict in Modern-Day China
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China
by Evan Osnos (Author)
Evan Osnos, Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, describes the profound political, economic, and cultural upheaval occurring in China. In Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, Faith in New China, he describes the greatest collision taking place in that country: the clash between the rise of the individual and the Communist Party’s struggle to retain control. He asks probing questions about why a government with more success lifting people from poverty than any in history chooses to put strict restraints on freedom of expression and how two decades of the relentless pursuit of wealth has affected Chinese from all walks of life.
A vibrant, colorful, and revelatory inner history of China during a moment of profound transformation
From abroad, we often see China as a caricature: a nation of pragmatic plutocrats and ruthlessly dedicated students destined to rule the global economy—or an addled Goliath, riddled with corruption and on the edge of stagnation. What we don’t see is how both powerful and ordinary people are remaking their lives as their country dramatically changes.
As the Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, Evan Osnos was on the ground in China for years, witness to profound political, economic, and cultural upheaval. In Age of Ambition, he describes the greatest collision taking place in that country: the clash between the rise of the individual and the Communist Party’s struggle to retain control. He asks probing questions: Why does a government with more success lifting people from poverty than any civilization in history choose to put strict restraints on freedom of expression? Why do millions of young Chinese professionals—fluent in English and devoted to Western pop culture—consider themselves “angry youth,” dedicated to resisting the West’s influence? How are Chinese from all strata finding meaning after two decades of the relentless pursuit of wealth?
Writing with great narrative verve and a keen sense of irony, Osnos follows the moving stories of everyday people and reveals life in the new China to be a battleground between aspiration and authoritarianism, in which only one can prevail.
From WNYC 93.9 FM and AM 820
http://www.wnyc.org/story/change-and-conflict-modern-day-china/