Economic reform in China has resulted in a widening gap between the rich and the poor; and urban poverty has emerged as a key factor which may affect future development. This new book examines the poverty problem in relation to housing and social changes in large inland cities; and assesses the effectiveness of recent government anti-poverty policies. The book also puts the Chinese experience in the wider context of transitional economies and discusses the similarities and differences between China and Central and Eastern European countries. The book is based on a long period of research on Chinese urban development; and benefited from several research projects conducted in Chinese cities. It is an important reference for all of those interested in housing; urban studies and social change; and is a key text for students of the Chinese economy and society.
#3225364 in eBooks 2004-10-21 2004-10-21File Name: B000PMGI40
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. The Holy Fool; the Chronicler; the Pretender...By Paul FrandanoLets skip the heroic mountain of (fascinating) details Solomon Volkov accumulates--aiming; I think; to please the most fastidious of his critics; who will never; Im afraid; be pleased--and cut straight to what I perceive to be the importance of this history: Volkov reminds us; albeit without being directly able to stimulate within our brains an exact sensation of feeling; of what life was among the Soviet intelligentsia in the monstrous Era of Stalin: that is; of palpable geniuses living every single day; if not every waking hour; wholly insecure in the pervasive dread of horrible punishment; not only for oneself and ones family and friends but quite possibly for ones acquaintances and even mere contacts (depending on the contact); and all for crossing political lines--at a time and place in which every line may be construed as political--that may or may not be known beforehand and that are drawn; for the genius subset of the Soviet intelligentsia; by the great Vozhd himself; for political; personal; motivational; cultural; or any of myriad other instrumental or whimsically arbitrary reasons.Thus it was for Shostakovich; the universally acclaimed genius of geniuses: daily dread; daily insecurity; until Stalin himself was mounted alongside Lenin in his own crystal sarcophagus. And even afterward; as the aftershocks of Stalins death played themselves out in Kremlin court politics.As most readers of this harrowing story will know; author Volkov--who in 1979 published the "Testimony: the Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich; as related to and edited by Solomon Volkov" - is the leading figure in Shostakovich revisionism; the proponents of which take the view that the composer was a secret dissident who often composed in musical code; embedding anti-Stalin; anti-regime; and other dissenting messages throughout his work. The controversy continues to rage; with a massive and still accumulating body of work that picks over every detail of Shostakovichs life; work; and relationships; arguing over questions of Shostakovichs intent and his relationship to the Soviet regime. (For further details; see the late revisionist scholar Ian McDonalds website; and particularly the page "The Shostakovich Debate: A Manual for Beginners." And; full disclosure; I tend to side--as do Shostakovichs children and virtually everyone who was close to him--with the revisionists. At the same time; I recognize that this is a point of view as well as an argument that is unlikely; ever; to be settled. People will believe what they will believe.)Volkov; squarely on the side of "hidden dissident;" draws out from Shostakovichs life and work character aspects based on a Mussorgsky-Boris Godunov-derived taxonomy: the "pretender" (the "hidden dissident"); the "chronicler;" and; perhaps most important of all; the "holy fool"--who; in seeming naiveteacute;; speaks profound truths; often in coded words. Volkov builds his narrative around two key years--1936 and 1948--during which Shostakovich was denounced in Pravda; the Soviet Communist Party organ; for "formalist" musical errors. He also tells these stories in Testimony; but Volkov is also a scholar of Russian and Soviet culture; and broadens his narrative to included associated material from the lives and documents of other cultural icons of the Soviet era: Pasternak; Eisenstein; Akhmatova; Gorky; Mandelstam; and scores more. Moreover; Volkov decodes--and; for me; convincingly--key Shostakovich works; including (several of my personal favorites;) the Piano Quintet; the Second Piano Trio; the Tenth Symphony; and the Eighth String Quartet.Imagine a world in which an all-powerful autocrat knows the names and appraises the works of every nationally important poet; novelist; painter; director (film; stage; opera); conductor; soloist; and; of course; composer. Imagine the pervasive sense of anxiety; of white-knuckle fear; among the entire cultural class; for whom no stamp of approval from the Leader is permanent; whose very existence is day-to-day contingent and dependent upon; literally; the whim of the leader. One might be a Stalin Prize First Class winner one day; vilified in the press the next; with perhaps internal exile the day following; and/or in many too many cases; physical elimination to follow; for crimes only the Leader might define. Its difficult to imagine subordinating so much brilliance to such arbitrary repression.There is of course much more in Shostakovich and Stalin; including an important reminder of the continuity in Russian leadership thinking since at least Nicholas I (r. 1825-1855); which in every generation seems to embrace; in one form or another; Nicholas program of "orthodoxy; autocracy; nationalism." (Merely consider the daily news out of Russia; the deep resonances in Volkovs history with the Russia of today under V.V. Putin; admirer of Czar Nicholas and J.V. Stalin; and of Putins personal style as Vozhd.)And so; yes; I count myself as a Shostakovich revisionist; and a Volkov admirer; and a devotee of the music left for us by one of the great; and most tortured; musical geniuses of the 20th century; Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich. And Im exceedingly grateful for the record Volkov has compiled to document hidden facets of Shostakovichs greatness as an artist; musician; and human being.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Portrait of an artist under socialismBy M. A NewmanThis book is a very interesting way of looking at the history of the relationship between authority and artistic freedom in Russia; both in the pre- and post-revolutionary period. The book emphasizes a sense of continuity of how the artist survived the pressures of the state. Shostakovich was arguably one of the two leading composes of the Soviet era; the other being Prokofiev. Shostakovichs talent was on a collision course with Stalins intellectual pretense to understand what was best for Russian culture. There almost seems to be a sense of frustration on the part of the dictator who by playing the role of chief taste-maker reduced Russian culture in the Soviet period to one long banality. Volkov believes that Shostakovich managed to survive by playing the role of the holy fool. While this is an interesting thesis; there are inconsistencies. What one can infer from this book is that Shostakovich was very much a creature given to bursts of irrationality. This fits with some of his behavior where he tended to test the limits of what he could get away with in his relations with the regime. In a way he resembles Mozart as portrayed in the play and movie Amadaeus; somewhat infantile in his approach to life. Volkov does not appear that comfortable with exploring this idea and I think that this undermines the overall effectiveness of the work; making it merely good; and not necessarily excellent. This is not to say that the book does not have very strong merit. Volkov is very strong with putting the conflict between Shostakovich and Stalin into the larger historical conflict. He also provides a good sense of the era in which Shostakovich functioned as well as really good insight into Shostakovichs compositions. This is a worthwhile book for anyone interested in learning more about cultural life in the Soviet period.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Page-turner!By KellThis is a thoroughly engrossing tale of life as a writer; composer; director; etc under Stalin. Shostakovich is the focal point but the information about him is put into the context of the overall situation of the artist in USSR under Stalin. I have completed this book and have started Wilsons biography of Shostakovich.