Modern Shanghai Social Security Research (1927-1937)

Since Shanghai opened port and have trade relations with the world markets, various social problems constantly emerged because of rapid social transformation. Traditional social security which mainly included philanthropical acts alone could not fundamentally deal with the new social problems that were different from those in the past. The times called for a new social security system.Then the Modern social security became social demands.In 1927, the government of the District of Shanghai came into existence and a series of social safety measures with modern contents were carried into execution gradually. Until the middle of 1930s, a set of nexus system of social security comprised with social relieve, social insurance and social welfare grew up an original rudiment. Although the effects of the enterprise of social security were terribly limited, such system ever played a quite essential role in the enhance of the rate of obtaining employment of social members and reducing the conflicts of different behalf colonies during the next about ten years.However, under the discourse of welfare ,there was the Kuomintang's purpose of controlling society which was veiled in the welfare, while the further study was made. For some reasons ,the municipal authorities of Kuomintang in Shanghai take the social welfare as its important policy, which incarnated that state power expand in all aspests of social life . But because of the limitation of the manpower and material resources, the power of municipal authorities was limited. Then the government changed it's strategy, and expected the social organization to participate in the construction of social welfare. It is in this cause, the relationship, between the municipal authorities of Kuomintang and the charity organization, the municipal authorities of Kuomintang and the bourgeoisie, was altered in essence.In the aspect of social relief, the relationship between the centralized government and independent charitable organizations was sometimes cooperative and sometimes anxious. It was fundamentally decided by each respective benefit pursue. In fact, the government took constructing order and dealing with social problems caused by the poor as its goal. While the charitable organizations hoped to maintain their resources and "business roads". The relationship between the country and the society was non-pure cooperation and non-simple resistance, it formed "non-preference" partnership.In the aspect of labor security, the relation among the government, the labor and the capitalist evolved delicately. In consideration of capturlng the labor with the communist party, the Kuomintang satisfied the labor's requests to some extent, while the laborer expressed more obedience to the government as to enhance the welfare treatments.In the meanwhile. The relationship between the Kuomintang and the bourgeoisie had also experienced an extremely subtle changes. Although the both had realistic demands on seeking cooperation, they had profound differences in counter-communist party movement and counter-class struggle. The Kuomintang wanted to maintain the political power legitimate and the rule stable, while the bourgeoisie pursued the profit maximization. In other words, the bourgeoisie took opposition when the Kuomintang appeased the labor at the expense of interests of the bourgeoisie. And the Kuomintang didn't permit the bourgeoisie to deal with social turbulence caused by the labor on their own way as to pursuit maximum profit. Therefore, the adoption of the social security measures initiated contradictory conflicts. The relationship between the Kuomintang and the bourgeoisie determinated day by day.Put the social security system under the history background of Republic of China, we can find that differented from the west social security system which started with the development of capitalism, the development of Shanghai's social security system didn't out of the capitalism development request, it out of the consideration of maintaining its political power validity. In the area of work safeguard, the attemption of Kuomintang government capturing the laborer populace with the communist party was especially obvious.The social security system was deeply ironed politics signature. It also unfold some appearances of Chinese modernization practice process at another angle.