Work

Slum clearance in a ‘semi-colony’: coercion and restraint in policing practices in 1930s Shanghai

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Slum clearances expose hostility between municipal authorities and residents fighting to claim urban space. In colonial contexts, these processes created conflicts between rulers and the ruled. Focusing on the ‘semi-colonial’ Shanghai International Settlement, this article examines interactions between the Shanghai Municipal Police (SMP) and slum-dwellers amid an evolving crisis of urban governance in the 1930s. This case-study, grounded in Shanghai’s complex socio-political climate, reveals how ordinary Chinese residents negotiated with the authorities and points to the frailties of semi-colonial governance, showing how the SMP deployed coercion only when it was unavoidable in slum clearances.

Source: Urban History

DOI: 10.1017/s0963926824000609

Author: Yutong Wang

Institution: University of York

Language: English

Topic: Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,450