Type:
Conference
Date:
April 26, 2021
Location:
Portugal
Subject Fields:
Anthropology, Asian History / Studies, Chinese History / Studies, Environmental History / Studies
Our Pluralizing the Anthropocene Colloquium will continue next week with Yifei Li and Judith Shapiro!
"China Goes Green: Coercive Environmentalism for a Troubled Planet"
Yifei Li (New York University, Shanghai) and Judith Shapiro (American University)
April 26th (Monday), 14:00 - 15:30 (GMT+1)
Moderator: Gonçalo Santos (CIAS/Sci-Tech Asia)
ABSTRACT
What does it mean for the future of the planet when one of the world’s most durable authoritarian governance systems pursues “ecological civilization” Despite its staggering pollution and colossal appetite for resources, China exemplifies a model of state-led environmentalism which concentrates decisive political, economic, and epistemic power under centralized leadership. On the face of it, China seems to embody hope for a radical new approach to environmental governance. In this keynote, the authors probe the concrete mechanisms of China’s coercive environmentalism to show how "going green" helps the state to further other agendas such as citizen surveillance and geopolitical influence. Through top-down initiatives, regulations, and campaigns to mitigate pollution and environmental degradation, the Chinese authorities also promote control over the behavior of individuals and enterprises, pacification of borderlands, and expansion of Chinese power and influence along the Belt and Road and even into the global commons. Given the limited time that remains to mitigate climate change and protect millions of species from extinction, we need to consider whether a green authoritarianism can show us the way and what are its promises and risks.ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Yifei Li is Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at NYU Shanghai and Global Network Assistant Professor at NYU. His research concerns both the macro-level implications of Chinese environmental governance for state-society relations, marginalized populations, and global ecological sustainability, as well as the micro-level bureaucratic processes of China’s state interventions into the environmental realm. He is coauthor (with Judith Shapiro) of China Goes Green: Coercive Environmentalism for a Troubled Planet. His recent work appears in Current Sociology, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Environmental Sociology, Journal of Environmental Management, and other scholarly outlets. He received his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Bachelor’s from Fudan University.Judith Shapiro is Director of the Masters in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development for the School of International Service at American University and Chair of the Global Environmental Politics program. She was one of the first Americans to live in China after U.S.-China relations were normalized in 1979. She is the author, co-author or editor of nine books, including (with Yifei Li) China Goes Green: Coercive Environmentalism for a Troubled Planet (Polity 2020), China’s Environmental Challenges (Polity 2016), and Mao’s War against Nature (Cambridge University Press 2001), among others. Prof. Shapiro earned her Ph.D. from American University’s School of International Service. She holds an M.A. in Asian Studies from the University of California, Berkeley and another M.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of Illinois, Urbana. Her B.A. from Princeton University is in Anthropology and East Asian Studies.
Date:
April 26th, 2021
Time:
14:00 - 15:30 (GMT+1)
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Contact Info:
Gonçalo D. Santos
Assistant Professor of Social-Cultural Anthropology
University of Coimbra
Department of Life Sciences
Research Center for Anthropology and Health (CIAS), Researcher
Sci-Tech Asia International Research Network, Director Calçada Martim de Freitas • 3000-456 COIMBRA • PORTUGAL
Tel: (+351)239240716 • Ext: 262216 • Fax: (+351)239855789
Email: gsantos@uc.pt • Website: gdsantos.com
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Histories of Childbirth Medicalization in East Asia
Technology and Culture, Volume 61, Number 2, April 2020, Special Issue
Chinese Village Life Today. Building Families in an Age of Transition
University of Washington Press, 2021, In Press
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