Gerard Lemos: The End of the Chinese Dream
VIEW EVENT DETAILSWhy Chinese People Fear the Future
Evening discussion with Gerard Lemos, author and James Pomfret, Senior China Correspondent, Reuters
Television images of industrious and increasingly prosperous workers depict a bright view of life in 21st-century China. Behind the officially sanctioned story, however, is a different reality. In his newly released book, The End of the Chinese Dream: Why Chinese People Fear the Future (Yale University Press), Gerard Lemos conducted hundreds of interviews with ordinary women and men whose lives belie the myth of a harmonious and cohesive society. Every day people are beleaguered by immense social and community problems as well as personal, family and financial anxieties. According to Lemos, despite assertions that China is an unstoppable power, massive discontent may lead to a people's uprising. What's next for China and for its people — is this the end of the Chinese dream?
Gerard Lemos is a British expert on social policy — advising governments, businesses and charities, and was previously a visiting professor at Chongqing Technical University. He is co-author of The Communities We Have Lost and Can Regain. Lemos chaired the board of the British Council from 2008-2010 and was Chair of the Akram Khan Dance Company. He currently holds a number of other public positions in British institutions.
James Pomfret is a senior China correspondent for Reuters with 16 years' multi-media reporting experience in print, television and radio journalism. A fluent Cantonese and Mandarin speaker, Pomfret specializes in political, economic and general news from southern China.