Nation, Governance, and Modernity in China

by Tsin, Michael T. W.

• ISBN13: 9780804733618
• ISBN10: 0804733619
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-12-01
• Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr

Summary

This is the first detailed study in English of the city of Canton (Guangzhou), the cradle of the Chinese revolution, in the first quarter of the twentieth century. In retracing various fragments of the city's history in this period, the book argues that modernist politics as practiced by the Nationalists and Communists represented a specific political rationality embedded in the context of a novel conception of the social realm. Modern governments invariably base their claim to legitimacy on the support of "society" or "the people." The mobilization of hitherto disenfranchised constituents into the political process is thus a central component of the nation-state. Modern governments also produce schemes for categorizing and organizing these same constituents to ensure social unity and their base of support. The author analyzes this apparent paradox of modern governance--emancipation and discipline--as shown in the discourse and practice of Canton elites and the lives of the city's inhabitants. Canton, which witnessed the modernization of both its physical and social structures in the early twentieth century, was the site of the first modernist government in Chinese history. The new governing elites, the Nationalists and Communists, attempted to dissect and classify their constituents into different classes or segments and to transform them into disciplined members of a new body social. Contrary to their expectations, extensive organizational work, though empowering the newly mobilized, did not lead to the formation of a well-ordered society. Instead, it brought into sharp focus the heterogeneity of Canton society and highlighted the impossibility of its analysis and management as a totality. To the dismay of the modernizers, social discipline could be restored only through violence.

Author Biography

Michael T. W. Tsin is Associate Professor of Chinese History at Columbia University.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Social Unity and Modern Governance	3	(174)
The Advent of Society	5	(4)
Canton as a Case Study	9	(4)
The Logic of Modern Governance	13	(3)
In the Name of Society	16	(35)
The Making of Nineteenth-Century Canton	19	(5)
The Nine Charitable Halls	24	(5)
In Search of Society	29	(4)
The Politics of Social Representation	33	(5)
The Limits of Change Under the Old Regime	38	(4)
The Collapse of the Qing	42	(9)
Toward Modernity	51	(32)
Political Landscape	55	(2)
Reordering Canton	57	(8)
The Promise of Industry	65	(7)
Reorganizing Workers	72	(11)
The Contested Nation	83	(32)
Merchants and the Modernist Project	88	(6)
Fiscal Management and Governance	94	(4)
For the Sake of Modernization	98	(5)
The Merchant Corps Incident	103	(7)
Discipline and National Community	110	(5)
Privileging Labor	115	(28)
The Rickshaw Pullers and the May Day Riot	120	(6)
The Oil-Processing Workers and the Machinists	126	(7)
The Railroad Workers	133	(6)
Whither Labor Movement	139	(4)
The Riddle of Mobilization	143	(34)
The Politics of Mobilization	146	(11)
Contesting the Government	157	(3)
Managing the Ranks	160	(3)
Suppressing the Mobilized	163	(5)
Society in Limbo	168	(5)
The Unfinished Project	173	(4)
Epilogue	177	(6)
Character List	183	(8)
Abbreviations	191	(2)
Notes	193	(44)
Bibliography	237	(32)
Index	269