Leslie T. Chang

{{Infobox person

| name = Leslie T. Chang

| native_name = {{lang|zh|張彤禾}}

| birth_name =

| birth_date =

| birth_place = New York, United States

| death_date =

| death_place =

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| nationality = American

| parents = Leroy Chang, Helen Chang

| alma_mater = Harvard University

| occupation = Journalist

| spouse = Peter Hessler

}}

Leslie T. Chang ({{zh|c=張彤禾|p=Zhāng Tónghé}}) is a Chinese-American journalist and the author of Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China (2008). A former China correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, she has been described as "an insightful interpreter of a society in flux."{{cite news

|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-19355436.html

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104050433/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-19355436.html

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=November 4, 2012

|title=China's New Working Class

|newspaper= The Washington Post

|date=October 22, 2008

|accessdate=June 5, 2010 }}

Early life

Chang was born in New York, United States. Chang's father was Leroy L. Chang, a physicist, researcher, professor, and Dean of Science at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Chang was raised outside of New York City, New York.

Her grandfather, Zhang Shenfu, a mining engineer who'd studied in the U.S. and then worked for the Kuomintang government, was bayoneted to death in 1946 by Communist soldiers.{{cite web |last1=Hessler |first1=Peter |title=Letter from Chengdu |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/07/03/the-double-education-of-my-twins-chinese-school?hasha=79676054577243c8da9b5b000f77dbb5&hashb=249dcdc0d6d64660d03e4855251e65f2ebf8d6e9&hashc=d9de5ab2613ebc148e9bce7e1785e5c997dbf047b5dd7d15bf18479f0db646fc |website=The New Yorker.com |publisher=Condé Nast |access-date=30 June 2023}}

Education

In 1991, Chang earned a degree in American history and literature from Harvard University.{{cite web |url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1911543.Leslie_T_Chang |title=Leslie T. Chang |publisher=goodreads.com |accessdate=December 7, 2018}}{{cite web |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/authors/87466/leslie-t-chang |title=Leslie T. Chang |publisher=Penguinrandomhouse.ca |accessdate=December 7, 2018}}{{cite web |url=http://harvardmagazine.com/2009/01/working-sisters |title=Montage - Working Sisters |publisher=Harvardmagazine.com |date=February 2009 |accessdate=December 7, 2018}}(class of 1991)

Published books

In 2004 as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Chang visited Dongguan, Guangdong province, China.

= ''Factory Girls'' =

In response to the negative press surrounding occupational safety and health in Chinese factories. Chang decided to explore the subject from the perspective of the workers. In 2004 she traveled to the South Central China factory city of Dongguan to document the lives of Wu Chunming and Lu Qingmin, two migrant workers who were born to poor farming families. The book follows their lives over three years and also includes the author's own family history of migration within China and to the West.{{cite news

|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/books/22french.html?ref=books |title=Books of The Times: Dynamic Young Engines Driving China's Epic Boom |last=French |first=Howard W |newspaper= The New York Times |date=21 October 2008 |accessdate=June 4, 2010 }}

Factory Girls was named by the New York Times as one of 100 Notable Books in 2008{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/books/review/100Notable-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all |title=100 Notable Books of 2008 |newspaper= The New York Times |date=November 26, 2008 |accessdate=June 6, 2010 }} and also received the 2009 PEN USA Literary Award for Research Nonfiction[http://www.penusa.org/node/102 PEN Center USA 2009 Literary Awards] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405064556/http://www.penusa.org/node/102 |date=April 5, 2010 }} and the Asian American Literary Award for nonfiction.[http://pageturnerfest.org/awards/ Page Turner - The Asian American Literary Festival: Awards] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027160916/http://pageturnerfest.org/awards/ |date=2010-10-27 }}

= ''Factory Girls Updated Post Financial Crisis'' =

In 2010 Chang published Factory Girls Updated Post Financial Crisis. The author observed that the 2007–2008 financial crisis has led to a business slowdown in Dongguan and that the home villages of workers have provided a safety valve with some workers even taking up a job outside Dongguan.{{cite book | author1= Leslie T. Chang |title=Factory Girls: Voices from the Heart of Modern China |publisher= Pan Macmillan |year=2010 |isbn=9780330506472 }}

= ''Egyptian Made: Women, Work and the Promise of Liberation'' =

In 2024 Chang released Egyptian Made: Women, Work and the Promise of Liberation. Chang explores the lives of three women living and working in the textile industry in Egypt, and documents the challenges of traditional culture with the demands of globalization.{{Cite web |title=Egyptian Made by Leslie T. Chang: 9780525509219 {{!}} PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/563943/egyptian-made-by-leslie-t-chang/ |access-date=2024-03-18 |website=PenguinRandomhouse.com |language=en-US}}

Personal life

Chang's husband is Peter Hessler, an author.[http://www.randomhouse.ca/author/results.pperl?authorid=87466 Author Spotlight]{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Random House{{cite web |url=http://www.timeout.com.hk/books/features/18225/interview-leslie-t-chang.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100520032357/http://www.timeout.com.hk/books/features/18225/interview-leslie-t-chang.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 20, 2010 |title=Interview: Leslie T. Chang |date=December 12, 2008 |accessdate=December 7, 2018}}

Awards and honors

2009 PEN USA Literary Award for Research Nonfiction (Factory Girls)
2008 New York Times Notable Book (Factory Girls)

References

External links

{{cite book

|title=Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China

|url=https://archive.org/details/factorygirlsfrom00chan_0

|url-access=registration

|last=Chang

|first=Leslie T.

|publisher= Spiegel & Grau

|year=2008

|isbn=978-0-385-52018-8 }}

[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/books/review/Keefe-t.html Holding Up the Sky], Sunday Book Review, The New York Times
[http://thechinabeat.blogspot.com/2008/10/china-annals-factory-girls.html The China Beat: Factory Girls]
[http://www.randomhouse.com/spiegelandgrau/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385520171 Factory Girls reviews]
[http://www.leslietchang.com/index.html Leslie T. Chang official website]
{{C-SPAN|80455}}
[https://www.c-span.org/video/?151353-1/beyond-narrow-gate Booknotes interview with Chang on Beyond the Narrow Gate, September 12, 1999.]
{{TED speaker}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20121023112337/http://press.nationalgeographic.com/2008/04/11/ngm-china-issue/ National Geographic May 2008 Issue Wholly Devoted to China]