Live at Autumn Leaves Books, labor activists Eli Friedman, Ellen David Friedman, and Kevin Lin will discuss Involution (Verso, 2026) and China in Global Capitalism (Haymarket, 2024), two recent books on the work culture and employment crisis in China.

Amid record high unemployment and savage competition in schools and the workplace, China's youth have becoming increasingly disconsolate. Previous generations of Chinese workers largely believed in the promise of their country's hyper-speed development. But today's youth feel they are being shut out. This conversation will draw on years of research and activism in China to assess the situation for young workers. It will also highlight instances of resistance and possibilities for building solidarity across borders.

Eli Friedman teaches in the department of Global Labor and Work at Cornell University. He is the translator of Involution: A Worker Inquiry Amid China's Youth Unemployment Wave (Verso 2026) and the co-author of China in Global Capitalism: Building International Solidarity Against Imperial Rivalry (Haymarket Books 2024).

Ellen David Friedman is a retired organizer with the Vermont affiliate of the National Education Association. She is the author of Keep Going: A Guide to Organizing When It’s Hard (PM Press, 2026). She has trained and advised thousands of union members, staffers, and officers, and is the architect of the popular Labor Notes workshop “What to Do When Your Union Breaks Your Heart.” She is a regular contributor to Labor Notes magazine and chair of the Labor Notes board. She lives in Ithaca, New York.

Kevin Lin is an activist and researcher on labor and capitalism in China, and is interested in building international labor solidarity. He is the managing editor of Asian Labour Review. He is also a co-author of China in Global Capitalism: Building International Solidarity Against Imperial Rivalry (Haymarket Books, 2024) and an a co-editor of The China Question: Toward Left Perspectives (Verso, 2022).