Urban environmentalism and activists’ networks in China: the cases of Xiangfan and Shanghai

This article analyses the characteristics of the Chinese environmental movement in terms of their organisational development and strategies. A comparative study of two Chinese cases - Shanghai and Xiangfan - is conducted to illustrate the dynamics of environmental activism and how they are affected by the social contexts based on their location.

The authors argue that despite China’s regulations on activism, the public organised by environmental non-governmental organisations (ENGOs) are represented in local environmental governance. Empirical findings from ENGOs in the two Chinese cities demonstrate that although environmental activism is not an activity with a fair degree of autonomy and self-regulation, it still occupies a social space that is enmeshed in a web of interpersonal relations and informal/formal rules between political and social actors. Contextual factors of economic development, openness of the political system and local culture also have impacts on the movements dynamics in different locations.

Key concluding points are:

• cases of Xiangfan and Shanghai illustrate that the Chinese environmental movement is still in its early stage, with ENGOs structured informally 
• the embedded Chinese conditions not only limit the development of environmental organisations, but also make it possible. These ‘embedding ties’ successfully cross the divides between the Party-state and society and have enabled young environmentalists to play an increasingly critical role in the greening of the government
• in this study, different degrees of reliance on personal networks in the two cities reflect the differences in local cultural tradition and customs between the coastal metropolis of Shanghai and Xiangfan. From this perspective, the Chinese environmental movement is characterised by interactions and dynamics that vary at specific locations.