“Obstructed embrace”: The ID card institution in Shanghai, 1945-1949
Ren, Xiaoyan
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125589
Description
Title
“Obstructed embrace”: The ID card institution in Shanghai, 1945-1949
Author(s)
Ren, Xiaoyan
Issue Date
2024-07-19
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Chow, Kai-wing
Committee Member(s)
Martin, Jeffery T
Wilson, Roderick Ike
Department of Study
E. Asian Languages & Cultures
Discipline
E Asian Languages & Cultures
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
Modern-state Building
Individual Identification
Japanese Occupation
Republican China
Shanghai
Language
eng
Abstract
Following the victory in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945, the Nationalist government in China implemented ID cards in some of its controlled regions as an integral part of the modern-state building project, albeit faced with considerable difficulties and resistance. Focusing on Shanghai, one of the cities that piloted the ID card policy, this thesis examines the various obstacles encountered. It approaches the obstacles from three aspects: the technology used in the ID cards to differentiate individuals and to authenticate documents; the administrative structure and the corrupted personnel responsible for distributing the ID cards; and the trauma of Japanese occupation that stigmatized ID cards as symbols of foreign invasion and excessive surveillance. The obstructed use of ID cards in post-1945 Shanghai provides a fresh perspective on the state-society relations during Nationalist government’s final attempts to build a modern state on mainland China.
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