Cities in Motion

In the 1920s and 1930s the port-cities of Southeast Asia were staging grounds for diverse groups of ordinary citizens to experiment with modernity as a rising Japan and American capitalism challenged the predominance of European empires after the First World War. Both migrants and locals played a pivotal role in shaping civic culture. Moving away from a nationalist reading of the period Su Lin Lewis explores layers of cross-cultural interaction in various spheres: the urban built environment civic associations print media education popular culture and the emergence of the modern woman. While the book focuses on Penang Rangoon and Bangkok - three cities born amidst British expansion to the region - it explores connected experiences across Asia and in Asian intellectual enclaves in Europe. Cosmopolitan sensibilities were severely tested in the era of post-colonial nationalism but are undergoing a resurgence in Southeast Asia''s civil society and creative class today.