Tales of Hope and Tastes of Bitterness sheds light on Chinese-led development from below, revealing its contested nature. Zooming in on everyday encounters between Chinese managers and Ethiopian laborers on a road construction site in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, the book shows that Ethiopians define Chinese-led development as much as they are defined by it. By mobilizing civic and legal authorities, Ethiopian workers have managed to increase their leverage to such a degree that they occasionally outplay Chinese management. On the other hand, Chinese narratives of bitterness reveal that Chinese ... More

Tales of Hope and Tastes of Bitterness sheds light on Chinese-led development from below, revealing its contested nature. Zooming in on everyday encounters between Chinese managers and Ethiopian laborers on a road construction site in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, the book shows that Ethiopians define Chinese-led development as much as they are defined by it. By mobilizing civic and legal authorities, Ethiopian workers have managed to increase their leverage to such a degree that they occasionally outplay Chinese management. On the other hand, Chinese narratives of bitterness reveal that Chinese road builders perceive themselves as lacking agency. Speaking, as they do, of thwarted goodwill, these narratives are not only linked to the everyday challenges of Chinese–Ethiopian encounters and the chasm between their confident expectations and the much less rosy realities on the ground, but also to workers’ socioeconomic backgrounds and their state of suspension, as they try to stay afloat in the competitive Chinese society to which they hope one day to return.