Abstract
The 2010 Shanghai World Expo lasted from May 1 through October 31, 2010, and represented a tremendous mobilization of capital, human resources, and urban restructuring. It was in every respect a massive spectacle, giving its 70-plus million attendees (overwhelmingly from the PRC) a vision of contemporary and future Chinese and global urbanism, as well as signifying to the world, as the Beijing Olympics had done, China's massive presence in the global arena. Ideologically, its thematics of material and architectural innovation, sustainability, harmoniousness, urban order, cultural heritage, and the ubiquitous and all-inclusive virtue of “civilization” (wenming) provided a comprehensive vision of a new, urban-centered, globalized China. The particular erasures, contradictions, and inconsistencies in the Shanghai Expo's vision of futurity, as well as the nature of expo attendees' varied experiences of the spectacle, provide important insights not only into the nature of the party-state's ideological project and the citizenry's experience of that project, but also into some wider questions about the fate of the future in our current period.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
