Shanghai's alternative futures

The World Expo, citizen intellectuals, and China's new civil society

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4737672
AutoresWilliam A Callahan (0000-0001-6103-0586, University of Manchester, autor correspondente)
Ano2012
Volume26
Fascículo2
Páginas251-273
Data de publicação2012-07-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoChina Information (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0920-203X • E-ISSN: 1741-590X
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0920203x12442889
OpenAlexW1966227265
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9
Referências citadas13

Civil society seems to be a dead issue in China because its formal aspects of mobilization and institutionalization are so tightly regulated by the party-state. This article looks to activities in and around the Shanghai World Expo (2010) to rethink the meaning of civil society and political action in China. Through an analysis of the Expo's national, theme, and corporate pavilions, it shows how Beijing is planning a harmonious future for China and the world. Yet alongside this unified future, it examines how Shanghai's citizen intellectuals - filmmaker Jia Zhangke, artist Cai Guoqiang, and blogger Han Han - are creating alternative futures. This multiple decentralized view of the future is an integral part of building alternative notions of civil society in China. The article thus has two goals: (1) to contrast official constructions of a unified harmonious future with citizen intellectuals' multilayered views of Shanghai's past-present-future; and (2) to explore how citizen intellectuals are creating a new civil society that can build alternative futures

Beijing · China · Civil society · CONTEST · Economics · Futures contract · Harmonious Society · Institutionalisation · Media studies · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Theme (computing · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Chinese history and philosophy · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Law · Public Administration

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