Synopses & Reviews
China's coastal region between Shanghai and Hong Kong is one of the most dynamic regions in the world, having undergone a transformation widely attributed to economic reform. This insightful account shows that rapid economic growth in China has a history and a geography, and demonstrates how regional restructuring is far from an economic 'miracle'. Instead of a linear historical approach, the analysis shows how history matters in contextualized geographies, in regional places and their transnational connections. The book situates the analysis in the contemporary globalization debates and the most current ideas in human geography to develop a cultural economy perspective that anticipates the 'new regionalism'.
Globalizing South China provides readers with an invaluable evaluation of 'Greater China', the Chinese diaspora, regional identity formation, the gendered conditions of the regional economy, nature-society relations, and world city transformation. The book concludes by anticipating the futures of Hong Kong and Shanghai and relations between China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore in the wider Asian region. By contributing to theory building and interdisciplinary studies, and based on numerous examples of comparative empirical research, the book is engaging and provocative, and will change the way we understand the region of rapid development in South China.
Review
"Relying on a wide grounding in the historical literature as well as a specialist's sense of spatial history, [Cartier] offers nuanced, often fascinating portraits of South China's economic and cultural dynamism."
Choice "The book has broken new ground in promoting the study and understanding of urban and regional development and also China study. With the meticulous evaluation of research materials under the contextualist approach, Globalizing South China exhibits a high standard of scholarship and intellectual sophistication." Journal of Oriental Studies
Synopsis
This invaluable introduction and critical evaluation examines regional transformation in south China, the center of the world's fastest growing economy. The book combines both geographical and historical perspectives to explain why and how this traditionally frontier area has become the most dynamic region of China.
The author brings together a range of perspectives to promote understanding of the globalized regional economy, the human and environmental conditions in the region, the distinctions in social and economic practices that have characterized contemporary landscapes of development, and the maintenance of sub-regional identities.
Synopsis
This insightful account demonstrates that capitalism in China has a history and a geography, and combines perspectives from both to demonstrate that regional economic restructuring in South China is far from an economic 'miracle's.
Find out more information about the RGS-IBG journals by following the links below:
AREA:
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0004-0894
The Geographical Journal:
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0016-7398
Transactions of the Insititute of British Geographers:
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0020-2754
About the Author
Carolyn Cartier is assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Table of Contents
List of Plates.
List of Figures and Tables.
List of Maps.
Series Editors' Preface.
Preface.
Chapter 1 Negotiating Geographical Knowledges.
Chapter 2 Region and Representation.
Chapter 3 Maritime Frontier/Mercantile Region.
Chapter 4 Open Ports and the Treaty System.
Chapter 5 Revolution and Diaspora.
Chapter 6 Gendered Industrialization.
Chapter 7 Zone Fever.
Chapter 8 Urban Triumphant.
Epilogue.
References.
Index.