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Urban Spaces in Contemporary China

Urban Spaces in Contemporary China

Urban Spaces in Contemporary China

The Potential for Autonomy and Community in Post-Mao China
Deborah S. Davis, Yale University, Connecticut
Richard Kraus, University of Oregon
Barry Naughton, University of California, San Diego
Elizabeth J. Perry, University of California, Berkeley
July 1995
Available
Paperback
9780521479431
$55.00
USD
Paperback
USD
Hardback

    The post-Mao urban reforms of the past decade have physically and psychologically transformed China's cities. Urban Spaces in Contemporary China explores how the character of city life changed after political-economic restructuring intensified in 1984, and how this change affected the creation of new physical, economic and cultural space in urban China. Drawing on a wide range of backgrounds, including economics, art history, law, and sociology, the authors bring personal insights to dimensions of urban Chinese life that are often misunderstood: China's large "floating populations," avant-garde art, labor movements, and leisure.

    • Multi-discipline perspective
    • Authors draw on a variety of sources: cinema, videos, sculpture, aerial photographs, painting, interviews, performance art, statistical surveys.
    • Each author has lived and worked in a Chinese city for an extended time in the late 1980s or early 1990s

    Reviews & endorsements

    "...the diversity of subjects and approaches make this book an informative and interesting read....It contributes to the literature on the state-society divide in Deng Xiaoping's China by providing detailed discussions on various subjects. Readers of this volume, regardless of their interests, will not be disappointed, and, like conference attendees, will certainly find fascinating material in at least some of the offerings here. For those who are concerned with the process of China's socialist transformation, this will be a welcome addition to their libraries. I am grateful to retain my to retain my review copy." Reginald Yin-Wang Kwok, China Review International

    See more reviews

    Product details

    July 1995
    Paperback
    9780521479431
    464 pages
    229 × 152 × 30 mm
    0.75kg
    55 b/w illus.
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • Acknowledgements
    • 1. Introduction: Urban China Deborah S. Davis
    • Part II. Urban Space: Introduction Barry Naughton
    • 2. Urban transformations in post-Mao China: impacts of the reform era on China's urban form Piper Rae Gaubatz
    • 3. Cities in the Chinese economic system: changing roles and conditions for autonomy Barry Naughton
    • 4. State sprawl: the regulatory state and social life in a small Chinese city Vivienne Shue
    • 5. The floating population in the cities: chances for assimilation? Dorothy J. Solinger
    • Part III. Urban Culture and Identities: Introduction Richard Kraus
    • 6. The politics of private time: changing leisure patterns in urban China Shaoguang Wang
    • 7. China's artists between plan and market Richard Kraus
    • 8. Velvet prisons and the political economy of Chinese film making Paul G. Pickowitz
    • 9. The avant-garde's challenge to official art Julia F. Andrews and Gao Minglu
    • 10. The disintegration of the poetic 'Berlin Wall' Su Wei and Wendy Larson
    • Part IV. Urban Associations: Introduction Elizabeth J. Perry
    • 11. Labour's battle for political space: the role of worker associations in contemporary China Elizabeth J. Perry
    • 12. Dissident and liberal legal scholars and organisations in Beijing and the Chinese state in the 1980s Mark Sidel
    • 13. Urban spaces and experiences of qigong Nancy N. Chen
    • 14. Student associations and mass movements Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom and Liu Xinyong
    • 15. Conclusion: historical perspectives David Strand
    • List of editors and contributors
    • Index.
      Contributors
    • Deborah S. Davis, Piper Rae Gaubatz, Barry Naughton, Vivienne Shue, Dorothy J. Solinger, Richard Kraus, Shaoguang Wang, Paul G. Pickowitz, Julia F. Andrews, Gao Minglu, Su Wei, Wendy Larson, Elizabeth J. Perry, Mark Sidel, Nancy N. Chen, Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, Liu Xinyong, David Strand

    • Editors
    • Deborah S. Davis , Yale University, Connecticut
    • Richard Kraus , University of Oregon
    • Barry Naughton , University of California, San Diego
    • Elizabeth J. Perry , University of California, Berkeley