{"product_id":"ghetto-at-the-center-of-gordon-mathews-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\u003eGhetto 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 Gordon Mathews\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0226510204\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780226510200\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Chicago Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/30\/2011\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\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\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/01\/2011","brand":"Gordon Mathews","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43990112993535,"sku":"9780226510200","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_128373ce-23f7-481f-b170-b8290ddcabdd.jpg?v=1683303067","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/ghetto-at-the-center-of-gordon-mathews-9780226510200","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}