On the evening of November 4th, Professor Barry Sautman will discuss his book, The Chinese are the Worst? Human Rights and Labor Practices in Zambian Mining.  It examines international discourses about China-in-Africa using as a focus the 2011 Human Rights Watch (HRW) study of labor abuses at copper mining firms in Zambia (mines ultimately owned by the (S.O.E.) China Nonferrous Metal Mining Co.).  He will also cover common myths about China’s role in Africa and share some experiences on conducting China-Africa research on-site.

 

Both a political scientist (PhD, Columbia University) and a lawyer (JD, UCLA; LLM NYU), Professor Sautman has taught at HKUST since 1993.  His classes have covered the subjects of international law, China/US relations, contemporary China, and ethnicity and nationalism

 

Two of his main research areas are ethnic politics in China, and China-Africa links (political economy, labor rights, migration and interactions between Chinese and Africans, representations and perceptions of China and Chinese in Africa, etc.)