new edition of Judy Shapiro's book on China's environmental challenges
Ken Conca
To folks on the list with interests related to China: My colleague Judy Shapiro at American University has published the third edition of her book, China’s Environmental Challenges. Summary and link are below…Ken Conca
China's Environmental Challenges, 3rd Edition
China’s huge environmental challenges affect not only the health and well-being of China but the very future of the planet. In this fully revised and updated third edition of her acclaimed book, noted scholar of Chinese environmentalism
Judith Shapiro explores China’s struggle to achieve the ‘ecological civilization’ championed by Xi Jinping since 2017.
Drawing on six core analytical concepts - globalization, governance, national identity, civil society, environmental justice, and extractivism - Shapiro ably demonstrates the multifaceted and complex nature of this struggle. China’s precipitous economic growth
has carried a heavy cost in air and water pollution, soil contamination, and loss of habitat for the biodiversity upon which human life depends. But its quest for sustainability has been further hampered by authoritarian governance patterns, soaring middle
class consumption, the need to provide employment and safety nets for a population of more than one billion, and a manufacturing sector thirsty to secure global resources and sell to new markets.
Transformation to a more sustainable development model is still possible. But, as Shapiro persuasively argues, this will require humility, creativity, and a rejection of business as usual. China – and the planet – are at a pivotal moment.
"The third edition of China’s Environmental Challenges remains the go-to text for Chinese environmental studies. An excellent guide, the reader will find historical depth, cultural nuance, humanistic sensitivity, global relevance, critical timeliness, and conceptual clarity all in one place." --Yifei Li, NYU Shanghai