The Central Market and Technopolitics in Wartime Shanghai

Date(s)： 2024/09/12

Time： 10:00~12:00

Venue： Archives 2nd Conference Hall

Host： Prof. Xie Xin-Zhe (Assistant research fellow, IMH, AS)

Speaker：Dr. Syu Siou-meng (Postdoctoral scholar, IMH, AS)

Disscussant： Prof. Sun Huei-min (Associate research fellow, IMH, AS)

Organizer： IMH

Abstract:
In the discussion of war and food control, most studies focused on the distribution of staple foods such as rice and wheat, ignoring the fact that fresh food, which also served as a war commodity, provided nutrition and appetite, and was subject to distribution interventions by the military authorities. This paper examines how the central market established by Japan in occupied Shanghai during World War II controlled and distributed fresh fruits and vegetables in Shanghai. The study finds that the central market became the logistics center for the distribution of fruits and vegetables in Shanghai. It also reveals how this market constructed the distribution infrastructure for fresh produce and reinforced class relations in Shanghai's culinary culture.

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