Acknowledgments
The book tells about a series of events that took place twenty years ago. While the lawsuit has yet to reach a final conclusion, the awareness about the law and sense of civic duties that the process helped foster are already contributing toward the transformation of the model of urban renewal in China. Since little is left of the older parts of cities that still has development potentials, the development-oriented renewal model has exhausted its usefulness. In the search for new models, societal participation is considered a key principle, and power is being exercised in a way that is more procedure-based, soft, and flexible. All of this has much to do with the growing awareness among social groups and individuals of their own capacity for social actions. This, in the final analysis, constitutes the institutional legacy of these case and similar public protests over the same period.
This was my first research endeavor. I began doing fieldwork in 2004, at a time when urban renewal had become a main source of constant social conflicts. Fifteen years hence, both the Chinese edition of the book and its English translation are finally complete. Yet it recently dawned on me that the people who have supported me the most throughout this project, including my two advisers, the people I interviewed, and my parents were all born in the 1950s. This realization gave rise to the sense that I was somehow meant to do and finish this study. This story allows those of us who grew up with China’s reform and opening-up in the 1980s to better understand people from our parents’ generation, who are roughly the same age as the country itself. Through it we can reach a deeper appreciation for their experience and contributions to the society, and their perseverance, tolerance, courage, and wisdom.
I would like to thank my two advisers, professor Shen Yuan from Tsinghua University and professor Yang Yiyin from the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. It is them who have guided me in my academic career and brought to my attention the real important issues embedded in China’s transition and society. I have greatly benefited from their acute sense of social responsibility and commitment to the development of Chinese sociology. To me, they embody consummate scholarship, and a genuine concern for “humanity.” My life would not have been the same had it not been for them.
I would also like to extend my thanks to the people I interviewed, who trust me and gave cogent answers to my queries in a relaxed manner. The way they comported themselves brings to mind the Chinese saying that “Integrity sustains families, learning yields dividends down the generations.” These people are anything but the riffraff media portrayal had made them out to be. Their decades-long faith in and rational commitment to the law would leave few unmoved. But even more importantly, I was deeply impressed by their candor, understanding, and protectiveness toward me. Despite limited resources and the many odds they faced, never did they try to take advantage of either myself or my university by turning us into a means for generating publicity for themselves. Instead, they talked with me openly and earnestly, without ever putting pressure on me. They saw our friendship as one that transcended the considerable age difference, and treated me with both candor among friends and care for a much younger person. Cognizant of the delicate nature of the issue and their roles in relation to it, they made a point of coming with me to the bus stop after every interview and would not leave until they saw me get into the bus.
Thanks go to my colleagues from the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. I am grateful to Dr Xiao Lin, who shares many of my research interests, for graciously putting up with my frequent requests for feedback on my work-in-progress. He even granted me access to some of his yet-unpublished field notes, a great debt I do not know how to repay. Heartfelt thanks also to professor Wu Xiaoying, Luo Lin, and Qu Jingdong for helpful comments and suggestions. And of course, many thanks to my dear colleagues as well as friends Wen Xiang, Yang Ke, Meng Lei, Shi Yuntong, Hao Caihong, and Li Jie, as they are always there for me.
I benefited immensely from comments and feedback I received throughout the project from professors You-tien Hsing of the University of California, Berkeley, Chen Yingfang of the School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Stephen Rechier from the University of St. Andrews, UK. I thank them for improving my understanding of these issues from the perspectives of political economic geography, urban sociology, and social psychology.
Now that the English translation is ready for print, I would be remiss if I did not mention how deeply grateful I am to professor Laurence Roulleau-Berger, Research Director at CNRS, Triangle and French Director of the International Associated Laboratory CNRS/CASS “Post-Western Sociology in Europe and in China.” Professor Roulleau-Berger has been working with Chinese academics in the social sciences for decades, and is a keen observer of some of the core social issues in both China and France. I am extremely honored to have this book included in Brill’s “Post-Western Sociology” series under her leadership. Her belief in me has meant a great deal.
In addition, special thanks go to the following individuals from Social Sciences Academic Press (SSAP), publisher of the Chinese edition: Tong Genxing, SSAP’s deputy chief editor, Dr. Sun Yu, the desk editor for the Chinese edition, and Ms. Zhao Ran, who shepherded the English translation to completion. I am also very grateful to editor Ms. Jennifer Obdam from Brill. Their dedication and professionalism made this book possible.
Last but not least, I must thank my family. The years between the completion of the Chinese edition and the publication of the English translation saw a number of personal milestones. The birth of my beloved daughter Bonnie and the completion of the first draft of the book took place within a short space of time, and opened up a new chapter in my life. The staunch and unconditional support from our loved ones is ultimately what propels us forward.
Shi Yunqing
October 30, 2021