In Search of Paradise

Li Zhang

Description

A new revolution in homeownership and living has been sweeping the booming cities of China. This time the main actors on the social stage are not peasants, migrants, or working-class proletariats but middle-class professionals and entrepreneurs in search of a private paradise in a society now dominated by consumerism. No longer seeking happiness and fulfillment through collective sacrifice and socialist ideals, they hope to find material comfort and social distinction in newly constructed gated communities. This quest for the good life is profoundly transforming the physical and social landscapes of urban China.Li Zhang, who is from Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, turns a keen ethnographic eye on her hometown. She combines her analysis of larger political and social issues with fine-grained details about the profound spatial, cultural, and political effects of the shift in the way Chinese urban residents live their lives and think about themselves. In Search of Paradise is a deeply informed account of how the rise of private homeownership is reconfiguring urban space, class subjects, gender selfhood, and ways of life in the reform era.New, seemingly individualistic lifestyles mark a dramatic move away from yearning for a social utopia under Maoist socialism. Yet the privatization of property and urban living have engendered a simultaneous movement of public engagement among homeowners as they confront the encroaching power of the developers. This double movement of privatized living and public sphere activism, Zhang finds, is a distinctive feature of the cultural politics of the middle classes in contemporary China. Theoretically sophisticated and highly accessible, Zhang's account will appeal not only to those interested in China but also to anyone interested in spatial politics, middle-class culture, and postsocialist governing in a globalizing world.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• Social class
• China

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 mars 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780801459436
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

IN SEARCH OF PARADISE

IN SEARCH OF PARADISE

MiddleClass Living in a Chinese Metropolis

Li Zhang

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS

Ithaca and London

Copyright © 2010 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2010 by Cornell University Press First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2010

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Zhang, Li, 1965 May–  In search of paradise : middleclass living in a Chinese metropolis / Li Zhang.  p. cm.  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN 9780801448331 (cloth : alk. paper) —  ISBN 9780801475627 (pbk. : alk. paper)  1. Housing—China—Kunming Shi. 2. Real estate business— China—Kunming Shi. 3. Middle class—China—Kunming Shi. 4. Privatization—China—Kunming Shi. 5. Land use—China— Kunming Shi. 6. City planning—China—Kunming Shi. 7. Kunming Shi (China)—Geography. I. Title.  HD7368.K86Z43 2010  305.5'5095135—dc22 2009041332

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Cloth printing Paperback printing

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Emily, Mark, and my father

Figures Acknowledgments

Contents

 Introduction 1. Farewell to Welfare Housing 2. Unlocking the Real Estate Machine 3. Emerging Landscapes of Living

4. Spatializing Class 5. Accumulation by Displacement 6. Recasting SelfWorth 7. Privatizing Community Governing and Its Limits  Epilogue

Notes References Index

vii

ix xi

1 26 52 79 107 137 163 187 211

217 227 243

Figures

 1. Migrant workers entering a middleclass housing compound  2. Interior design that reflects the new middleclass taste  3. Migrant workers transform a “naked” house  4. Villa dream  5. Streets in Think UK  6. An example ofshengtailiving  7. Selfprotection in a lowerincome neighborhood  8. Jade Garden  9. A sign that reads “private house, no entry” at a luxury gated community 10. Gating and security service as a symbol of status 11. A middlelevel new housing development 12. Lowerincome housing 13. Men playing Chinese chess 14. A newspaper advertisement selling the concept of the new middle class 15. The old Shuncheng neighborhood being demolished

i

x

74 74 75 85 86 96 105 110

112 112 114 117 118

129 156