Transacting Normativities: Security Imaginaries and the Shandong Railway, 1897–1905

Abstract This article explores the security imaginaries and normative transactions surrounding the construction of the Shandong Railway by the German Empire in China between 1897 and 1905. Situated within the broader context of German colonial ambitions and Chinese sovereignty concerns, the railway project became a focal point of contested security narratives. The article argues that the concept of security—understood as historically contingent and discursively constructed—shaped interactions among German colonial authorities, Chinese officials and local communities. Divided into three chronological phases, the study traces the evolution of these security dynamics: from the initial German occupation of Jiaozhou Bay and the lease treaty negotiations, through the conflicts and regulatory agreements during railway construction, to the post–Boxer Rebellion period and the eventual withdrawal of German troops from the fifty-kilometre zone surrounding the lease area. By framing the railway zone as a ‘transactional field’, the authors reveal how colonial domination emerged through everyday negotiations, compromises and mutual adaptations. Ultimately, the article demonstrates that the pursuit of security by both empires led to a cycle of normative failure, escalating tensions and the internalization of colonial practices by ­Chinese officials, contributing to the broader transformation of imperial governance in the early twentieth century.