Environmental Activism on Multiple Terrains: The Case of China

• In Event: De/Re-stabilizing Rhetoric and Contemporary Social Movements

Abstract

Too often homogenized concepts substitute for thinking. So, for example, a homogenized conception of China and a simplistic ideological belief in the myth of democracy stunt thinking about environmental activism in China. Given the many environmental crises damaging the earth, we need to rethink everything, including our sacred belief in the superiority of corporate-funded democracy and “liberalism.” In this paper we start charting the terrain of environmental activism in China, including regional differences in environmental conditions, issue foci, amount of local grass-root activities, environmental groups’ relationships with the government and business corporations, and degrees of integration among local and national environmental groups. For our paper we draw upon interviews with environmental activists throughout China.

Authors

• Ye Sun, University of Texas, Austin

• Kevin DeLuca, University of Georgia