The Reconstruction Of The Old Worker’s Sense Of Emancipation Under The Campaign Of Housing Demolition

The main focus of this study is on "the sense of emancipation"which is an unique perspective to observe whether the band between the old workers and state is still existing or not in post-Mao urban China. The previous study reveals that old workers’ sense of emancipation has been gradually constructed since the founding of the PRC, and after laid off or retirement, this sense vanished with the disintegration of working class. However, the context of demolition in the housing reform during the same historical era has been overlooked in the class analysis.In fact, house is not only a needful space of living and family life, but also an essential symbol of property and social status to the old workers, especially in the city of house shorting and high housing price as Shanghai. To a certain extent, a class of housing has been produced after the emerging housing system since the demolition movement in Shanghai, and the basic structure of old worker’s sense of "emancipation" has been reconstituted by the status of old workers in this social transformation. The process of how shanghai workers got houses is very complex, not only reflected on the sense of emancipation, but also represented the alteration of the relation between government and old workers. Drew on extensive typical case studies and interviews of old workers in the prophase, metaphase and anaphase of the demolition, this study reveals that the sense of emancipation is not only a result of demolition but also a "clue" throughout, and it also has great impact on the expectation of demolition, the resistance against the demolition as well as the narrative of demolition. The sense of emancipation is actually one of the most essential band between the state and the old workers since1949.The article is divided into five chapters. The first chapter is the introduction including theoretical structure and definition of the key concepts; the second chapter has discussed the relationship between the sense of "emancipation" and the dwelling condition, and has represented what is the social memory of "emancipation"; the third chapter has specifically explored the experiences of old workers in the process of housing relocation, and analyzed how the institution planning of state impacted on old workers’sense of emancipation; then, based on the field work, the fourth chapter has interpreted the changing narrative of the sense of emancipation before and after the housing demolition. In the chapter of conclusion, it has focused on the essential meaning of sense of emancipation, and has questioned the viability of "new band" between the state and old workers.