The World in Guangzhou
eBook - ePub

The World in Guangzhou

Africans and Other Foreigners in South China’s Global Marketplace

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

The World in Guangzhou

Africans and Other Foreigners in South China’s Global Marketplace

About this book

Only decades ago, the population of Guangzhou was almost wholly Chinese. Today, it is a truly global city, a place where people from around the world go to make new lives, find themselves, or further their careers. A large number of these migrants are small-scale traders from Africa who deal in Chinese goods—often knockoffs or copies of high-end branded items—to send back to their home countries. In The World in Guangzhou, Gordon Mathews explores the question of how the city became a center of "low-end globalization" and shows what we can learn from that experience about similar transformations elsewhere in the world.
 
Through detailed ethnographic portraits, Mathews reveals a world of globalization based on informality, reputation, and trust rather than on formal contracts. How, he asks, can such informal relationships emerge between two groups—Chinese and sub-Saharan Africans—that don't share a common language, culture, or religion? And what happens when Africans move beyond their status as temporary residents and begin to put down roots and establish families?
 
Full of unforgettable characters, The World in Guangzhou presents a compelling account of globalization at ground level and offers a look into the future of urban life as transnational connections continue to remake cities around the world. 

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Yes, you can access The World in Guangzhou by Gordon Mathews,Linessa Dan Lin,Yang Yang in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & International Business. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Contents
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. 1  Introduction
  7. 2  Foreigners in Guangzhou
  8. 3  African-Chinese Relations
  9. 4  Low-End Globalization
  10. 5  Legal-Illegal in Guangzhou
  11. 6  Logistics Agents, Middlemen, and Cultural Brokers
  12. 7  Religion in a Foreign World
  13. 8  Romance, Love, Marriage, and Families: A Chinese Barack Obama?
  14. Notes
  15. Footnotes
  16. References
  17. Index