Silencing Shanghai examines the paradoxical and counterintuitive contrast between Shanghai's emergence as a global city and marginalization of the Shanghai dialect. The endangerment of the vernacular exposes how state-sponsored social exclusion silences a significant voice of the people and shakes the linguistic foundation of the local identity.

Chapter 1: A Cosmopolitan Past

Chapter 2: "China Dream" vs the Shanghai Dialect

Chapter 3: Geographical Displacement and Language Loss

Chapter 4: Social Integration and "New Shanghairen" as Euphemism

Chapter 5: Forever Waidiren or Honorary Shanghairen?