Made in Nowhere: Essays on the Asiatic Modes of Existence

Claims from Western radicals and leftists insisting that China is not a capitalist nation go hand in hand with broader claims that have gained traction since 2008 regarding capitalism itself. It is easy to believe that China isn't a capitalist nation if capitalism was dealt a mortal blow by the mortgage crisis of 2008 and finally perished during the pandemic.

Alex Taek-Gwang Lee asks readers to think more clearly and reminds them of how the best critic of capitalism, Karl Marx, understood capitalism to be defined by a division of labor, global distribution, and most of all by the production of commodities by a newly emerging laboring class.

In "Made in Nowhere," Lee argues that, far from being a leading light of socialism, the Chinese state has been capitalism's savior since 2008. He tackles symptoms of contemporary global capitalism, ranging from critical theories of "supermodernity" and the multitude to cultural products such as Netflix and Squid Game.