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Narratives and Pathways towards an Ecological Civilization in Contemporary China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2018

Sam Geall  and
Adrian Ely Open the ORCID record for Adrian Ely [Opens in a new window]
Sam Geall*
Affiliation:
chinadialogue.net, University of Sussex, and Chatham House.
Adrian Ely
Affiliation:
Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of Sussex. Email: [email protected].
*
Email: [email protected] (corresponding author).
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Abstract

Since the United States committed to withdraw from the UN Paris Agreement on climate change, international observers have increasingly asked if China can take the lead instead to raise global ambition in the context of a world leadership vacuum. Given the country's increasing economic and strategic focus on sustainable and low-carbon innovation, China might seem well placed to do so. However, much depends on the direction of governance and reform within China regarding the environment. To better understand how the government is seeking to make progress in these areas, this article explores key political narratives that have underpinned China's policies around sustainable development (kechixu fazhan) and innovation (chuangxin) within the context of broader narratives of reform. Drawing on theoretical insights from work that investigates the role of power in shaping narratives, knowledge and action around specific pathways to sustainability, this article explores the ways in which dominant policy narratives in China might drive particular forms of innovation for sustainability and potentially occlude or constrain others. In particular, we look at ecological civilization (shengtai wenming) as a slogan that has gradually evolved to become an official narrative and is likely to influence pathways to sustainability over the coming years.

提要

随着美国宣布退出联合国气候变化框架公约《巴黎协定》，国际观察人士愈发质疑中国能否在全球领导力真空的背景下引领全球的气候行动。鉴于中国当前经济对可持续发展和低碳创新的重视，中国看似有着良好的战略基础。然而，中国在环境问题上的管理和改革的方向也具有关键性作用。为了更好地理解政府如何在这些领域取得进展，本文在广泛的改革阐述背景下，探讨中国关于可持续发展和创新的关键政策阐述。基于研究形成“可持续发展”这一阐述、知识和行动的理论基础，本文探讨了中国主流政策阐述如何推动特定形式的创新性可持续发展，以及可能存在的阻碍和限制。我们特别关注“生态文明”这一阐述，其作为一个逐渐演变成官方阐述的口号很可能影响未来几年的可持续发展之路。

Keywords

Chinaecologynarrativesinnovationsustainability中国生态阐释创新可持续性
Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 236 , December 2018 , pp. 1175 - 1196
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS University of London 2018 

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