{"product_id":"ghetto-at-the-center-of-the-world-chungking-mansions-hong-kong-9780226510200","title":"Ghetto at the Center of the World: Chungking Mansions, Hong Kong","description":"There is nowhere else in the world quite like Chungking Mansions, a dilapidated seventeen-story commercial and residential structure in the heart of Hong Kong's tourist district. A remarkably motley group of people call the building home; Pakistani phone stall operators, Chinese guesthouse workers, Nepalese heroin addicts, Indonesian sex workers, and traders and asylum seekers from all over Asia and Africa live and work there--even backpacking tourists rent rooms. In short, it is possibly the most globalized spot on the planet. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e But as \u003ci\u003eGhetto at the Center of the World\u003c\/i\u003e shows us, a trip to Chungking Mansions reveals a far less glamorous side of globalization. A world away from the gleaming headquarters of multinational corporations, Chungking Mansions is emblematic of the way globalization actually works for most of the world's people. Gordon Mathews's intimate portrayal of the building's polyethnic residents lays bare their intricate connections to the international circulation of goods, money, and ideas. We come to understand the day-to-day realities of globalization through the stories of entrepreneurs from Africa carting cell phones in their luggage to sell back home and temporary workers from South Asia struggling to earn money to bring to their families. And we see that this so-called ghetto--which inspires fear in many of Hong Kong's other residents, despite its low crime rate--is not a place of darkness and desperation but a beacon of hope. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Gordon Mathews's compendium of riveting stories enthralls and instructs in equal measure, making\u003ci\u003e Ghetto at the Center of the World\u003c\/i\u003e not just a fascinating tour of a singular place but also a peek into the future of life on our shrinking planet.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.txcorrectionsbookstore.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-221615\"\u003eGordon Mathews\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Chicago Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/30\/2011\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.90lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.70d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780226510200\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0226510204\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.txcorrectionsbookstore.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-SOC\"\u003eSocial Science\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.txcorrectionsbookstore.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-SOC002010\"\u003eAnthropology | Cultural \u0026amp; Social\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.txcorrectionsbookstore.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-SOC\"\u003eSocial Science\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.txcorrectionsbookstore.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-SOC026030\"\u003eSociology | Urban\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.txcorrectionsbookstore.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-SOC\"\u003eSocial Science\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.txcorrectionsbookstore.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-SOC008000\"\u003eEthnic Studies | General\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGordon Mathews\u003c\/b\u003e is professor of anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eGlobal Culture\/ Individual Identity: Searching for Home in the Cultural Supermarket\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eWhat Makes Life Worth Living? How Japanese and Americans Make Sense of Their Worlds\u003c\/i\u003e, coauthor of \u003ci\u003eHong Kong, China: Learning to Belong to a Nation\u003c\/i\u003e, and coeditor of several books.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Chicago Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49253717410091,"sku":"0226510204","price":23.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0884\/7966\/2379\/files\/university-of-chicago-press-paperback-default-title-ghetto-at-the-center-of-the-world-chungking-mansions-hong-kong-39000781324587.jpg?v=1772739979","url":"https:\/\/www.txcorrectionsbookstore.com\/products\/ghetto-at-the-center-of-the-world-chungking-mansions-hong-kong-9780226510200","provider":"TX CorrectionsBookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}