Edge of Empires: Chinese Elites and British Colonials in Hong Kong

Awards:   Nominated for Joseph Levenson Book Prize 2007 Nominated for Morris D. Forkosch Prize 2005
Author:   John M. Carroll
Publisher:   Harvard University Press
ISBN:  

9780674017016


Pages:   274
Publication Date:   30 April 2005
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Out of stock   Availability explained
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Edge of Empires: Chinese Elites and British Colonials in Hong Kong


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Awards

  • Nominated for Joseph Levenson Book Prize 2007
  • Nominated for Morris D. Forkosch Prize 2005

Overview

In an engaging, revisionist study, John M. Carroll argues that in the century after the Opium War, Hong Kong's colonial nature helped create a local Chinese business elite. By the end of the nineteenth century, the colonial government saw Chinese businessmen as allies in establishing Hong Kong as a commercial center. The idea of a commercially vibrant China united them. Chinese and British leaders cooperated on issues of mutual concern, such as the expansion of capitalism and political and economic directions for an ailing China. These Chinese also found opportunities in the colonial system to develop business and commerce. In doing so, they used Hong Kong's strategic position to underscore their own identity as a distinctive group unlike their mainland counterparts. Nationalism took on a specifically Hong Kong character. At the same time, by contributing to imperial war funds, organizing ceremonies for visiting British royalty, and attending imperial trade exhibitions, the Chinese helped make Hong Kong an active member of the global British Empire. In Edge of Empires, Carroll situates Hong Kong squarely within the framework of both Chinese and British colonial history, while exploring larger questions about the meaning and implications of colonialism in modern history.

Full Product Details

Author:   John M. Carroll
Publisher:   Harvard University Press
Imprint:   Harvard University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.20cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.532kg
ISBN:  

9780674017016


ISBN 10:   0674017013
Pages:   274
Publication Date:   30 April 2005
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock   Availability explained
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Note on Romanization Introduction 1. Colonialism and Collaboration: Chinese Subjects and the Making of British Hong Kong 2. A Better Class of Chinese: Building the Emporium of the East 3. Strategic Balance: Status and Respect in the Colonial Context 4. A Place of Their Own: Clubs and Associations 5. Nationalismand Identity: The Case of Ho Kai 6. Preserving Hong Kong: The Strike-Boycott of 1925 - 1926 7. Transforming the Barren Island: The 1941 Centenary Conclusion Notes Selected Bibliography Index

Reviews

Even more than most new history monographs, John M. Carroll's carefully argued, informative study of the Hong Kong bourgeoisie circa 1841-1941 is one that it is easy to imagine readers picking up with very different goals in mind, only to come away with contrasting senses of the novelty and importance of its arguments. The author has interesting things to say about a variety of specific individuals (including colorful figures who moved skillfully between different cultural milieus), institutions (such as the fascinating District Watch system of maintaining order in the overwhelmingly Chinese sections of Hong Kong), and events...Carroll has unquestionably done specialists in several fields a service by providing us with such a richly textured picture of the multifaceted process of 'embourgeoisment' in an intriguing colonial setting, that of a one-time part of the British Empire that since 1997 has not been de-colonized but rather re-colonized, with the metropole simply shifting f


Even more than most new history monographs, John M. Carroll's carefully argued, informative study of the Hong Kong bourgeoisie circa 1841-1941 is one that it is easy to imagine readers picking up with very different goals in mind, only to come away with contrasting senses of the novelty and importance of its arguments. The author has interesting things to say about a variety of specific individuals (including colorful figures who moved skillfully between different cultural milieus), institutions (such as the fascinating District Watch system of maintaining order in the overwhelmingly Chinese sections of Hong Kong), and events...Carroll has unquestionably done specialists in several fields a service by providing us with such a richly textured picture of the multifaceted process of 'embourgeoisment' in an intriguing colonial setting, that of a one-time part of the British Empire that since 1997 has not been de-colonized but rather re-colonized, with the metropole simply shifting from London to Beijing. -- Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom American Historical Review


Even more than most new history monographs, John M. Carroll's carefully argued, informative study of the Hong Kong bourgeoisie circa 1841-1941 is one that it is easy to imagine readers picking up with very different goals in mind, only to come away with contrasting senses of the novelty and importance of its arguments. The author has interesting things to say about a variety of specific individuals (including colorful figures who moved skillfully between different cultural milieus), institutions (such as the fascinating District Watch system of maintaining order in the overwhelmingly Chinese sections of Hong Kong), and events...Carroll has unquestionably done specialists in several fields a service by providing us with such a richly textured picture of the multifaceted process of 'embourgeoisment' in an intriguing colonial setting, that of a one-time part of the British Empire that since 1997 has not been de-colonized but rather re-colonized, with the metropole simply shifting from London to Beijing. -- Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom American Historical Review


Author Information

John M. Carroll is Professor of History at the University of Hong Kong.

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