Extra-Governmental Power in Shanghai 1911-1937

Abstract

In this paper I will focus on the activities of the labor movement and criminal organizations in Shanghai, how they changed in relation to each other and the environment around them during the Republican period, and shifts of extra-governmental political influence in the city. During this period, organized criminal organizations commanded substantial influence in the labor movement, and the labor movement, as well as criminal organizations, held substantial influence in society. The largest secret society in Shanghai during the Republican period was the Green Gang. According to one notable Shanghai gangster there were 48 prominent Green Gang bosses in Shanghai between 1919 and'1949. The Green Gang tended to act as a syndicate rather then as a single entity. As such, conflicting interests within the Green Gang could turn one group against another, allowing other social and political forces to make use of the Green Gang for their own purposes.