Urban China through the lens of neoliberalism: Is a conceptual twist enough?

Urban Studies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Zhou ◽  
George CS Lin ◽  
Jun Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Urban Society ◽  
Urban China ◽  
Urban Transformation ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Property Market ◽  
Urban Inequality ◽  
Authoritarian State ◽  
State And Society ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Conceptual Difficulties

Neoliberalism as a hegemonic global ideology and framework of governance has been the subject of extensive critical analyses in geography and urban studies. Despite the conceptual difficulties involved, a growing number of scholars have attempted to apply this critical discourse to China. In this commentary, we critically interrogate the urban China literature that deploys the neoliberal lens, mostly authored by scholars outside China, and we raise the fundamental question as to whether this discourse can ever capture the central stories or trajectories of China’s urban transformation. We examine the interpretations of China’s urban land property market, urban inequality and its spatial manifestation, and the emerging urban governmentality – the areas in which neoliberalism has been most often invoked – to highlight the utility and limitations of a neoliberal treatment of China. We argue that the neoliberal representation of China’s urban (re)development, with its preoccupation with capital and class interests, is unable to effectively capture the distinctive nature of entanglement of capital, state and society in China, and thus obscures the driving role and the competing rationalities of the authoritarian state, and the rapid reconfiguration of urban society. By citing examples of recent urban China research, we show that the neoliberalism framework, even in its ‘variegated’ or ‘assemblage’ versions, tends to trap China’s analysis within a frame of reference comfortable to Western researchers, and ultimately hinders the development of diversified, potentially more fruitful inquiries of the urban world.

Drawing up the missing link: State-society relations and the remaking of urban landscapes in Chinese cities

2021 ◽  
pp. 0308518X2098681
Author(s):  
George C S Lin
Keyword(s):  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Urban Redevelopment ◽  
The State ◽  
Urban China ◽  
Urban Transformation ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Missing Link ◽  
Authoritarian State ◽  
Link State ◽  
Normal Expectation

Studies of China’s urban transformation are characterized by diverse interpretations of the relevance of the theory of neoliberalism and continuing tension of epistemology vis-à-vis ontology. This research foregrounds state-society interplay as an alternative lens and analytical tool to understand China’s urban transformation in the context of neoliberalization and global urbanism. The remaking of the Chinese urban landscape is found to be shaped not simply by forces of agglomeration economies or bid-rent dynamism but more by the contestation and negotiation between a fragmented authoritarian state and a rapidly changing society. Existing land users are motivated by a decentralized power of decision-making and a share of the land conveyance income previously monopolized by the state. Contrary to normal expectation, urban redevelopment plays a role of greater significance in the local land supply of those cities in some less advanced regions than in the demographically dense and economically advanced regions. Administratively, urban redevelopment tends to prevail in those modes of land disposition that are either monopolized by the state or subject to close-door negotiation. Redevelopment is less contentious in a “village-in-the-city” where decisions are made by the collective organization internally than the other involving developers externally. Land use intensity and efficiency have been improved along with intensified social exclusion and marginalization. Drawing up the missing link concerning state-society relations may provide new insights to solve the myth of an urban China so ambivalent when seen in the lens of neoliberalism and help reconcile methodological tension in the studies of comparative urbanism involving China.

State and Society in Urban China in the Wake of the 16th Party Congress

2003 ◽  
Vol 176 ◽  
pp. 943-959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothy J. Solinger
Keyword(s):  
Structural Break ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Urban Society ◽  
The State ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Urban China ◽  
Party Leadership ◽  
Social Structural ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Party Congress

At the time of the convening of the 16th Party Congress in November 2002, the Party leadership confronted an urban society splintered by the blessings and the blows of two decades of ever-deepening marketization. This article explores the composition of urban society at that juncture, and aims to delineate its changing social structural break-down. It also investigates the correlation between Jiang Zemin's “three represents” and the various separate social groups making up the cities at the turn of the century. While arguing that in Jiang's vision the lowest stratum of society may have been intentionally excluded from his “represents,” the piece also shows the stance of the state towards several groupings and its means of dealing with each. The piece concludes with a suggestion that new top leaders Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao appeared, as of the time they took office, to be turning a new leaf.

The Making of a Revolution in Tunisia

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 68-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laryssa Chomiak
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Repression ◽  
Political Liberalization ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Authoritarian State ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Tunisian Revolution

In their search for explanations for the so-called Tunisian paradox under Ben Ali –a country with comparatively high levels of socio-economic development, yet plagued by the absence of a civil society that could push for political liberalization–analysts primarily investigated the gradual co-optation of political institutions and actors. As research and analytical agendas were consumed by the robustness of Ben Ali’s authoritarian state, little attention was paid to the development of informal and extra-institutional political activities that existed even under deepening political repression. In hindsight, many of these informal activities clearly contributed to the December 2010-January 2011 nation-wide campaign, which eventually led to the Arab World’s fi rst bottom-up revolution ousting an unpopular and illegitimate ruler. Th is article will engage two stories about the Tunisian Revolution that later inspired protests and contentious activities across the Middle East and North Africa. First, it will tell a back-story of contentious activities preceding the January 2011 events that surprised observers, scholars and analysts–even those familiar with the Tunisian case. Second, this article will discuss some of most pressing political dynamics that have emerged in the post-revolutionary (and pre-October 2011 election) environment. The concluding section will subsequently identify avenues for short and long-term research on the subject of contestation, resistance, and the construction of a new political order.

Nauczyciel w czasie edukacji zdalnej w polskich tygodnikach opinii. Analiza dyskursu

2021 ◽  
pp. 59-74
Author(s):  
Justyna Dobrołowicz
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Specific Power ◽  
Remote Work ◽  
Sociological Perspective ◽  
The Press ◽  
The World ◽  
Communication Activity ◽  
The Subject

The aim of the research presented in this article is to identify the ways in which theopinion-forming press presents teachers and their remote work with students. I assume thatby constructing press statements: mentioning or concealing certain topics, using specificlinguistic forms – journalists influence what readers think about Polish teachers, how theyevaluate their attitude to work and its effects. The problems raised in the research fall withinthe field of pedeutology – a pedagogical subdiscipline examining the teaching profession.Pedeutology helps to understand the specificity of a teacher’s work, analyses its determinants,creates models of professional competences. I have made the subject of my research thepress discourse understood as a communication activity, as a result of which we learn tothink about the world in a certain way. Although the concept of discourse is currently a usefuland popular research category, it still causes many definition difficulties. I am closest tothe sociological perspective of understanding discourse, according to which discourse hasa specific power to create the world, because it provides its participants with ways ofunderstanding reality. Getting to know the press discourse about teachers is thereforea very important matter, the way of writing about this professional group determines howpeople perceive it and how to behave towards it. The method of analysing the 18 presstexts selected for the study is a critical discourse analysis, which was used to answer thefollowing research question: what linguistic means were used in the discourse on teacher’sremote work and what the effects of this discourse may be. In the analysed texts about distance education, mainly expressions with a clearly negative semantic character are used,which in turn leads to discrediting teachers and shapes the belief about the crisis situationin education.

scholarly journals The End of the Right to the City: A Radical-Cooperative View

2021 ◽  
pp. 107808742110578
Author(s):  
Caleb Althorpe ◽  
Martin Horak
Keyword(s):  
Original Writing ◽  
Urban Politics ◽  
Urban Society ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Social Difference ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Right ◽  
The City

Is the Right to the City (RTTC) still a useful framework for a transformative urban politics? Given recent scholarly criticism of its real-world applications and appropriations, in this paper, we argue that the transformative promise in the RTTC lies beyond its role as a framework for oppositional struggle, and in its normative ends. Building upon Henri Lefebvre's original writing on the subject, we develop a “radical-cooperative” conception of the RTTC. Such a view, which is grounded in the lived experiences of the current city, envisions an urban society in which inhabitants can pursue their material and social needs through self-governed cooperation across social difference. Growing and diversifying spaces and sectors of urban life that are decoupled from global capitalism are, we argue, necessary to create space for this inclusionary politics. While grassroots action is essential to this process, so is multi-scalar support from the state.

scholarly journals Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s Speech in United Nations’ Security Council (UNSC) on September 22, 1965: Critical Discourse Analysis Perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Sibtain Chohan ◽  
Muhammad Nadeem Anwar
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Study Case

The aim of the study is to analyze Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s speech at United Nations’ Security Council on September 22, 1965. The study attempts to uncover the meanings of the words employed to show the core tension of 1965 war between Pakistan and India. There have been different models of CDA presented by scholars like Fairclough, Wodak and Van Dijk, but the most suitable CDA framework for this study case is of Van Dijk. His (1997) framework for critical discourse analysis provides the clear picture of the ideologies expressed in various kinds of structures. Qualitative methodology has been employed for this study and the content of the speech was analyzed qualitatively. The findings of the study elaborate that Bhutto was determined to have a permanent peace in the region. It can also be observed that he was quite confident in buying peace for Pakistani and the neighboring countries. He reinforced the subject matter with multiple instances of the countries that faced the same war-like circumstances and rose again with new zeal and zest. The study has its theoretical as well as practical scope.

scholarly journals Learning from Slussen: place, idea and process in the transformation of central urban interstices

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvaro Clua
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Form ◽  
Urban Transformation ◽  
Original Structure ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Strategic Location ◽  
Political Management ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Transformation Processes ◽  
Intense Debate

Over the last two decades the Slussen in Stockholm designed by Tage William-Olsson in 1935 has been the subject of an intense debate about how to update it to the contemporary needs. Tabula rasa, reconstruction or renovation? This lively discussion, however, has resulted in a final proposal granted by the expertise of an international firm but controversial for its political management, opposed to several social groups and, above all, highly problematic in terms of urban form and sustainability. The strategic location of this place, the indelible presence of its modern shape in the collective imaginary or the overwhelming force of the new paradigms of public space, have ended up provoking a range of more than twenty-five proposals in a short period of time. But while today this process seems to be settled and the demolition works of the original structure has already started, it would be still useful to draw some conclusions relevant to other similar interstitial sites in European compact cities where architecture, infrastructure, public space and landscape meet in such an intense way. Thus, this paper summarizes some of the last arguments of the on-going doctoral thesis about the recent evolution of Slussen according to four different outstanding topics: the form of place and history as an undeniable premise; the strength of tactics versus the power of the image in the process; the importance of time in the sequence of urban decision-making and, finally, the weight of urban culture as a key argument in contemporary urban transformation processes.

Sociocultural portrait of the Leningrad member of cooperative (1987-1991)

2021 ◽  
pp. 34-40
Author(s):  
Aleksandr Nikolaevich Chudetсkii
Keyword(s):  
Urban Society ◽  
Work Skills ◽  
State Sector ◽  
Cooperative Movement ◽  
Cooperative Community ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Sociocultural Characteristics ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Public Production

The subject of this research is the participants of cooperative movement that unfolded in Leningrad in 1987 – 1991. During this period, the country legalized the citizens’ right to establish industrial cooperatives, which de facto have become private enterprises. Leningrad turned into one of the largest centers of cooperative movement in the USSR, and members of the cooperatives – a considerable part of urban society. Attention is given to the situation of cooperatives in Leningrad prior to their transition into the non-state sector of the economy. The author explores such sociocultural characteristics of the cooperative member as the attitude towards socialist system, Soviet regime, experience of party and Komsomol life, work skills, and age characteristics. It is revealed that the majority of participants of cooperative movement prior to transition into the non-state sector of the economy had a stable social status and were loyal to the Soviet system, and many of them held senior positions. Among the members of cooperative were also the members of CPSU and Komsomol activists. Their performance efficiency and high professionalism were often noted by the party and state authorities. This casts doubt on the widespread opinion about the marginal status of the participants of cooperative movement. Moreover, the attempt to attract people not involved in public production was unsuccessful; compared to the working age citizens, householders, pensioners, people with disabilities, and students met in the cooperative community were a rarity. The article relies on the archival documents, newspaper materials, sources of personal origin, as well as the results of interviews conducted by the author with former employees of the cooperative.

Towards Meritocratic Apartheid? Points Systems and Migrant Access to China's Urban Public Schools

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Yi Wan ◽  
Edward Vickers
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Urban Growth ◽  
Guangdong Province ◽  
Urban Society ◽  
Urban China ◽  
Entire Population ◽  
Urban Districts ◽  
Recent Introduction ◽  
Rural Migrant ◽  
Urban Public Schools

Abstract This paper analyses rural migrant children's access to public schools in urban China, focusing on the implications of the recent introduction of points systems for apportioning school places. This approach, first piloted by Zhongshan city in Guangdong province from 2009, has steadily been extended nationwide. Here, we analyse the reasons for its spread and for divergence in its implementation in various urban districts. Notwithstanding rhetorical claims that points systems promote “fairness” or “equality” in the treatment of migrants, our analysis suggests that they maintain or even exacerbate the stratification of urban society, lending new legitimation to the hierarchical differentiation of entitlements. This is consistent with the aim of the 2014 “New national urbanization plan” to divert urban growth from megacities towards smaller cities. However, we argue that the use of points systems should also be seen in the context of an evolving bureaucratic-ideological project aimed at more rigorously monitoring and assessing China's entire population, invoking the logic of meritocracy for the purpose of control.

Resisting a postcolonial construction of historical trauma and healing: Critical discourse analysis of public apologies in Canada

2021 ◽  
pp. 089692052110523
Author(s):  
Eunjung Lee ◽  
Marjorie Johnstone
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
Historical Trauma ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Social Responsibilities ◽  
The Past ◽  
Language And Power ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Systemic Violence ◽  
Public Apologies

The contemporary discourse around historical trauma and healing is site for debate and resistance in public spheres. Guided by critical scholars in language and power as well as post-and settler colonialism, this study analyzes texts and contexts of two public apologies in Canada – Chinese head tax, and residential schools for Indigenous children – to examine how historical trauma and healing were understood, and by doing so how the subject and object were re/constructed to maintain or resist social (dis)orders – postcolonial racial orders – in the past and the present of Canada. Findings included: (1) a split and temporal distance between the wrong past and the benevolent present with governments constructing themselves as the good subject reifying a sincere fiction of a liberal, benevolent, and just white-nation; (2) no acknowledgement of the cause of historical trauma, namely colonial governing; (3) ongoing construction of the other racialized population as victims/burdens/lesser citizens to current Canada; and (4) the explicit demand to collective forgetting of the past/historical trauma as current healing and inclusion. We discuss social responsibilities when historical wounds continue to leave injuries and the risk of perpetuating systemic violence to people with whom we currently share the nation all of us call home.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document