Bar Factory: A Study of Urban Culture in South China

Author: Ma Jiewei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: This book is divided into two parts. The first part is a collection of research papers based on field investigations, and the second part is field investigation essays. These two parts complement each other through participatory research, delving into the working class in Southern China. Against the backdrop of the local urban characteristics of Southern China, it presents a vivid picture of the working-class life in urban areas, where migrant workers strive to integrate into city life, idealizing urban middle-class lifestyles, but due to a lack of a voice, face various dilemmas. Focusing on the interactive relationship between production and consumption, it thoroughly and comprehensively explores the intrinsic mechanisms of urban culture, transforming abstract cultural principles and scattered cultural phenomena into real cultural events and their multiple meanings. Through interactions both within and outside social groups, it reveals the dense network structure formed by the interweaving of specific times, spaces, and places.