Competing Visions of the Modern: Urban Transformation and Social Change of Changchun, 1932-1957 (original) (raw)

Author(s): Liu, Yishi | Advisor(s): AlSayyad, Nezar; Yeh, Wen-hsin | Abstract: Examining the urban development and social change of Changchun during the period 1932-1957, this project covers three political regimes in Changchun (the Japanese, the Nationalist, and the Communist), and explores how political agendas operated and evolved as a local phenomenon in this city. I aim to reveal connections between the colonial past and socialist "present". I also aim to reveal both the idiosyncrasies of Japanese colonialism vis-a-vis Western colonialism from the perspective of the built environment, and the similarities and connections of urban construction between the colonial and socialist regime, despite antithetically propagandist banners, to unfold the shared value of anti-capitalist pursuit of exploring new visions of and different paths to the modern. The first three chapters relate to colonial period (1932-1945), each exploring one facet of the idiosyncrasies of Japanese col...