Shanghai Revolution and Development in an Asian Metropolis

This book is a comprehensive study of the way in which old Shanghai was transformed and developed by the Communist Party between 1949 and the later 1970s.

Shanghai is Asia's largest city and for over a hundred years has played a critical role both in China's internal political arid economic affairs, and in the history of international relations in the Far East. Before 1949, Shanghai was the principal point of western and, later, Japanese penetrations of China. Under foreign control the city saw the beginnings of modern economic growth, of new forms of westernized education and culture, and of fierce social and political conflicts. This book is a comprehensive study of the way in which old Shanghai was transformed and developed by the Communist Party between 1949 and the later 1970s. It throws light on the paradox that a city that for years was the object of hostility and distrust has become in the Post-Mao era the spearhead of China's new programme for economic and technological modernization. The book is divided into sections dealing with political, economic and cultural change, and with the special characteristics of Shanghai's rural suburbia.

List of illustrations; Preface; Foreword; Abbreviations; Part I. The Modern Historical Perspective: 1. 'The other China': Shanghai from 1919 to 1949 Marie-Claire Bergère; Part II. Political Life: 2. Political mobilization in Shanghai, 1949–1951 Richard Gaulton; 3. Shanghai and Chinese politics: before and after the Cultural Revolution Parris Chang; 4. Shanghai dockers in the Cultural Revolution: the interplay of political and economic issues Raymond F. Wylie; 5. The Shanghai Connection: Shanghai's role in national politics during the 1970s David S. G. Goodman; Part III. Economic Development and Living-Standards: 6. Industrialization under conditions of long-run population stability: Shanghai's achievement and prospect Christopher Howe; 7. The quest for food self-sufficiency Robert Ash; 8. Changes in the standard of living of Shanghai industrial workers, 1930–1973 Bruce L. Reynolds; Part IV. The Suburban Transformation: 9. Shanghai-suburb relations, 1949–1966 Lynn T. White III; 10. The spatial development of Shanghai Ka-iu Fung; Part V. Culture and Ideology: 11. The emergence of 'worker-writers' in Shanghai Lars Ragvald; 12. Study and criticism: the voice of Shanghai radicalism John Gardner; Notes; A chronology of modern Shanghai, 1842–1979; Contributors; Index.

Shanghai is Asia's largest city and for over a hundred years has played a critical role both in China's internal political arid economic affairs, and in the history of international relations in the Far East. This book is a comprehensive study of the way in which old Shanghai was transformed and developed by the Communist Party between 1949 and the later 1970s.