Shanghai gone domicide and defiance in a Chinese megacity
Qin Shao
- XVIII, 307 S. Ill., Kt. 23 cm
- State and society in East Asia .
Includes bibliographical references and index
The Woman of a Thousand-and-one Petition -- Nightmares : Old and New -- Waving the Red Flag -- Barrack-room Lawyer -- Mr. Lincoln's Lane.
"Shanghai has been demolished and rebuilt into a gleaming megacity in recent decades, now ranking with New York and London as a hub of global finance. But that transformation has come at a grave human cost. This compelling book is the first to apply the concept of domicide--the eradication of a home against the will of its dwellers--to the sweeping destruction of neighborhoods, families, and life patterns to make way for the new Shanghai. Here we find the holdouts and protesters, men and women who have stubbornly resisted domicide and demanded justice. Qin Shao follows, among others, a reticent kindergarten teacher turned diehard petitioner; a descendant of gangsters and squatters who has become an amateur lawyer for evictees; and a Chinese Muslim who has struggled to recover his ancestral home in Xintiandi, an infamous site of gentrification dominated by a well-connected Hong Kong real estate tycoon. Highlighting the wrenching changes spawned by China's reform era, Shao vividly portrays the relentless pursuit of growth and profit by the combined forces of corrupt power and money, the personal wreckage it has left behind, and the enduring human spirit it has unleashed." -- Publisher's website
9781442211315 cloth : alkaline paper 9781442211322 paper : alkaline paper
9781442211322
2012030732
City planning--History--China--Shanghai City planning--Political aspects--History--China--Shanghai City planning--Social aspects--History--China--Shanghai Wrecking--Social aspects--History--China--Shanghai Protest movements--History--China--Shanghai Social change--History--China--Shanghai City and town life--History--China--Shanghai
Shanghai (China)--Biography Shanghai (China)--Social conditions--20th century Shanghai (China)--Social conditions--21st century