China and the World Film Review: American Factory
For this film review I watched The American Factory on Netflix. It documents an American factory that closed its doors in 2008, that was opened again in 2010 when Chinese businesses started reopening shuttered factories and investing in manufacturing in the U.S. - this one specifically documents a factory in Ohio.
I found it particularly interesting to see how the Americans were prepped for the relationship and how the U.S. workers were being sold on how beautiful the blending of cultures would be between the U.S. and China and how beneficial the relationship could be. the Chinese were prepped for the working relationship. Chinese workers were told they can be their true selves and even go so far as to “make fun of the President” if they’d like.
I think in my classroom, I would like to take that perspective of looking at the two different cultures from various perspectives. Of course the business side of things but also the blending of cultures socially especially in the workplace. The preparation alone of the two groups of workers was so vastly different (and understandably so) that I think it would be interesting for students to draw comparisons between labor practices/expectations in the U.S. vs. China.