China: An Infrastructural History

Harvard FAS

Any visitor to China today is struck by the country's modern and extensive infrastructure. From the world's largest dams, to high speed railways, and gleaming new cities, the Chinese economic miracle of the past 40 years has been accompanied by a monumental infrastructural revolution. And yet, infrastructural ambition has long characterized successive Chinese states going back millenia. In this conference course (i.e. open to undergraduate and graduate students), we shall explore…