Shanghai, China. 1998
Photograph by Sebastiao Salgado
In Shanghai, China there is a rush to modernize the city. In most cases, the people being evicted from their house that they have lived in for generations. If you are lucky enough to own your house you might be able to sell it, but you will be lucky to get 2/3 of the agreed payment. The sweep is trying to move so quickly that it is causing the "re-locators" to break into homes. Re-locators will take all of your possessions, box them up, and take them away. Many people have tried running to the police, however, they will just stand aside. While few people have tried seeking the government for aid, failure is a commonality. Whether they try court cases, running to local police forces, all cases have a similar ending. Failure. Being removed, and relocated on these people is extremely hard. Major transitions are happening, because the people who used to be at the heart of the city, are now being sent out onto the outskirts of the city. While these hardships are going on, they are not only moving families, but history. Taking it, sending it away, all for the modernization of a city.
Work Cited Page
Photograph
Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture. New York, 2000. 377.
Wow, yet another example of hardships going on in the world that I knew nothing about. Thank you for doing the reserach and sharing that. It's hard and stressful enough to move when you have months to plan, pack, and figure out all the details; I can't imagine having someone else pack up all my things and take over my house like that. What a different group of refugees- not political or religious refugees, but victims of modernization.
ReplyDeleteWhile this is obviously on a more serious and larger scale, this sort of thing is still happening across our country today. People are having their homes taken away from them by corporations looking to build housing complexes or commercial developments. Families who have lived in their homes for generations are suddenly finding themselves being forced out of the places where they've raised their children. While these people are somewhat adequately compensated, how can we possibly hope to stop these injustices in the rest of the world if they are still going on in our own country?
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