Look at that sad Asian woman. You did that, because you want to wear tight blue jeans for under $20. Ok, I'm kidding - wear what you want, but this book will sure give one a hard time about special economic zones. Most books about them so far have been rather objective, but this one takes a negative point of view, and how.
The book describes the difficulties that the work force of export processing zones has to contend with. I was going to shrug it off and say it's not my concern, but this book really does explain how much living and working in these zones sucks. The primarily female, illiterate, and non-unionised workers of Asian EPZs are living a life I would've ended a while ago.
Long hours, no benefits, the feeling of worthlessness coming from being replaceable: all of it is exemplified in statistics, charts, and winding sentences that hammer home the feeling of being lost. The book is very accurate, and probably quite well-sourced. It's an absolute downer to read, however, until the last two fifths - which explain potential reforms.
The good news is that the extreme conditions are due to poor management, and not systemic repression of any kind. This is one of the cases in which unionisation is a perfectly valid response, and the author is reasonable in the expectations and strategies that such a project would entail. This is just a solid diagnosis, prognosis, and recommendation for treatment of a nasty societal ill, which all would do well to look into.
7/10