Entrepreneurial Gig Workers: Individuals, Markets, and the State in China's Digital Economy Era, by Zhang Lin, translated by Chen Rong

**From Tech Elites and E-commerce Farmers to Cross-Border Shoppers** **An Ethnographic Study of China's Digital Economy** **Unveiling the Structures and Costs Behind the Entrepreneurial Myth** **"Entrepreneurial Gig Workers" makes a crucial and timely academic contribution to the study of global digital capitalism and platforms in East Asia... By constructing the concept of the "entrepreneurial gig worker," Zhang Lin offers readers unique insights into digital labor in China's economy after the 2008 financial crisis. A must-read for those in media and creative industries!** **—Sarah Banet-Weiser**, Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California Since the 2008 financial crisis, "entrepreneurship" has evolved from a pursuit for the few into a survival strategy for a generation. Amidst new terms like "flexible employment" and "one-person company," countless individuals are reinventing their work and lives. This book's proposed concept of the "entrepreneurial gig worker" refers to this group of people who are neither traditional employees nor capital owners, responding to the times with their personal efforts. Through long-term ethnographic research on tech elites, e-commerce farmers, and cross-border shoppers, the author looks back at the pivotal era of China's digital economy rise. The book reveals another side of the "entrepreneurial myth": behind the seemingly organic entrepreneurial boom lies state policy organization and institutional regulation; behind individual "free entrepreneurship" lies family collaboration and support; and those encouraged to "be their own boss" often end up bearing structural risks. When the author places these "entrepreneurial gig workers" within a historical context, we see not only China's unique entrepreneurial stories and innovation models driven by the masses, but also the underlying mechanisms that continue to operate: how individuals are mobilized, how risks are transferred, and how people find survival and dignity through labor amidst uncertainty. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The entire book is not only impressive in its observational details and depth of fieldwork, but also offers a new perspective with its diversified labor models and complex local contexts, moving beyond single economic models and Western theoretical frameworks to provide an academically rigorous explanation for the phenomena of labor and entrepreneurship in China's contemporary digital economy, embracing both complexity and dynamism. **—Feng Ying-chien**, Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Wei Lun Professor of Journalism and Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong This book not only reveals the complex implications of China's emerging entrepreneurs but also offers a powerful critique of the entrepreneurial ideology within global capitalism. This is a highly contributory work. **—Yang Guobin**, Chancellor's Professor of Communication and Sociology, University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism The author presents how individuals from different social backgrounds, class positions, and gender identities gain opportunities to enter innovation and the market. These opportunities are not homogeneous or equal; they are consistently embedded within national strategies, platform governance, family structures, and social mobility. This is a work that combines theoretical penetration, real-world concern, and the warmth of fieldwork. **—David Lee**, Research Affiliate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Founder of "Xinchejian," China's first maker space Full Title: Entrepreneurial Gig Workers: Individuals, Markets, and the State in China's Digital Economy Era Author: Zhang Lin Translator: Chen Ronggang ISBN: 978-988-237-358-7 Binding: Paperback Language: Traditional Chinese Pages: 364 Dimensions: 210 x 148 mm **Author Biography** **Author** **Zhang Lin** is an Associate Professor at the University of New Hampshire. She holds a bachelor's degree from Beijing Foreign Studies University, a master's degree from New York University, a research master's degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Her primary research areas include the global digital economy, technological innovation and cultural and creative industries, global China, and social equity and development. She is the author of *The Labor of Reinvention: Entrepreneurship in the New Chinese Digital Economy* (Columbia University Press, 2023) and has published dozens of articles in major international academic journals. She is currently working on a new book about the transnational biotechnology industry and the rise of global China. She also serves as the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of *Chinese Journal of Communication* and sits on the editorial boards of several other prestigious international journals. **Translator** **Chen Ronggang** is an Assistant Professor at the School of Film, Xiamen University. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the London School of Economics and Political Science and has a long-standing focus on communication theory, the political economy of communication, and cultural politics.