Cold War Cities: The Politics of Space in Europe and Asia during the 1950s (Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia)

This book is a dynamic study of the range of experiences of the Cold War in Europe, East Asia and Southeast Asia in the 20th century. Comprised of ten chapters from a diverse team of scholars from Europe, East Asia, and North America, this edited volume furthers the study of the Cold War in two ways. First, it underscores the global scope of the Cold War. Beginning from Europe and extending to East and Southeast Asia, it focuses attention on the overlapping local, national, regional, and international rivalries that ultimately divided the world into two opposing camps. Second, it shows that the Cold War had different impacts in different places. Although not all continents are included, this volume demonstrates that the bipolar system was not monolithic and uniform. By comparing experiences in various cities, this book critically examines the ways in which the bipolar system was circumvented or transformed – particularly in places where the line between the Free World and the Communist World was unclear. __Cold War Cities__ will appeal to students and scholars of history and Cold War studies, cultural geography and material cultures, as well as East and Southeast Asian studies. This book is a dynamic study of the range of experiences of the Cold War in Europe, East Asia, and Southeast Asia in the 20th century. Comprised of ten chapters from a diverse team of scholars from Europe, East Asia, and North America, this edited volume furthers the study of the Cold War in two ways. First, it underscores the global scope of the Cold War. Beginning from Europe and extending to East and Southeast Asia, it focuses attention on the overlapping local, national, regional, and international rivalries that ultimately divided the world into two opposing camps. Second, it shows that the Cold War had different impacts in different places. Although not all continents are included, this volume demonstrates that the bipolar system was not monolithic and uniform. By comparing experiences in various cities, this book critically examines the ways in which the bipolar system was circumvented or transformed – particularly in places where the line between the Free World and the Communist World was unclear. Cold War Cities will appeal to students and scholars of history and Cold War studies, cultural geography, and material cultures, as well as East and Southeast Asian studies. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of figures 10 Acknowledgements 11 List of authors 12 Introduction: the Cold War from a socio-geographical perspective 14 Part 1 Cityscape as a signifying system 20 1 Space, sexuality, and social rebuilding in post-World War II Berlin 22 2 Modern architecture as ideological representations: East Berlin, West Berlin, and Hong Kong 32 3 “Paris Broken, but Paris Liberated”?: the state, city administration, and scales of reconstruction in post-war Paris, 1944–1977 51 4 Protesting in Paris: public space and the politics of urban appropriation, 1944–1990 65 Part 2 Cityscape as a site of multiple memories 78 5 Beyond spatial liminality: “Chinese” student returnees in 1950s’ Guangzhou 80 6 The question of people: cultural Cold War in 1950s’ Hong Kong 101 7 Honouring revolutionary heroes: the political uses of Martyrs’ Shrines in Taiwan 114 Part 3 Cityscape as a front line of physical and mental warfare 132 8 Cities and fears of biological warfare during the early Cold War 134 9 Class, gender, and the charismatic female subject: Hong Kong cinema during the Cold War era 148 10 “Let Raffles stand where he stands today”: a symbol of the colonial in Singapore during the Cold War 161 Index 184 "This book is a dynamic study of the range of experiences of the Cold War in Europe, East Asia and Southeast Asia in the twentieth century. Comprised of ten chapters from a diverse team of scholars from Europe, East Asia, and North America, this edited volume furthers the study of the Cold War in two ways. First, it underscores the global scope of the Cold War. Beginning from Europe and extending to East and Southeast Asia, it focuses attention on the overlapping local, national, regional, and international rivalries that ultimately divided the world into two opposing camps. Second, it shows that the Cold War had different impacts in different places. Although not all continents are included, this volume demonstrates that the bipolar system was not monolithic and uniform. By comparing experiences in various cities, this book critically examines the ways in which the bipolar system was circumvented or transformed - particularly in places where the line between the Free World and the Communist World was unclear. Cold War Cities will appeal to students and scholars of history and Cold War studies, cultural geography and material cultures, as well as East and Southeast Asian studies"-- Provided by publisher