The Accidental Capitalist

Behzad Yaghmaian is Professor of Political Economy at Ramapo College, New Jersey. He has taught in the United States, Iran and Turkey. He is author of Embracing the Infidel: Stories of Muslim Migrants on the Journey West, and Social Change in Iran: An Eyewitness Account of Dissent, Defiance, and Movements for Rights.

'This remarkable book paints intimate portraits of some of the faceless millions of migrant workers who have made China's economic miracle possible' - Ivan Watson, CNN Foreign Correspondent 'A fascinating, moving and highly readable book' - Jeff Crisp, Head, Policy Development and Evaluation Service, UNHCR 'Like Ian Johnson's Wild Grass or Leslie Chang's Factory Girls, The Accidental Capitalist takes us to the epicenter of China's world-changing transition through a series of portraits of the men and women who make that change possible' - Professor James Millward, History, Georgetown University 'A modern Alexis de Tocqueville' - Publishers Weekly

History Timeline
Maps
Introduction: The Greatest Migration
BOOK I:
Tenants of Li Family, The Beautiful Rose Garden, The Li Family Village, The Portrait of Mao, Grandpa, The Communists Buried their Soldiers, The Great Famine, The Decorator’s Fortune, The Scent of Fresh Grass
BOOK II:
Migrant Girls’ Long March, Toy Factory Girls, I Want to See the World, The Great Flood, Bean Curds, I Will Be My Own Boss, Red Lanterns on the Mountain, A White Color Worker
BOOK III:
The Accidental Capitalist, Zhao Gang: The Declining Export-Processing Industries, Child Labor, Ancestor’s Tomb, Lujiang
Leaving for Shenzhen, Arise, You Prisoners of Starvation
BOOK IV:
A Man for All Seasons, Yue Haitao: Saving the World in the New China, Leaving Qingdao, Running to Die, Taking Side, Own a Piece of America, The Bastille Day
Conclusions
Index