The Institute for Chinese Studies presents:
"Ecological States: Politics of Science and Nature in Urbanizing China"
Jesse Rodenbiker
Rutgers University
Abstract: Ecological States examines how PRC campaigns of scientifically based environmental protection transform nature and society. While many point to China's ecological civilization as a new paradigm for global environmental governance, Rodenbiker argues that ecological redlining extends the reach of the state. Although Chinese urban sustainability initiatives have driven millions of citizens from their land and housing, these migrants are not passive subjects of state policy. Instead, they creatively navigate resettlement processes in pursuit of their own benefit. Through extensive fieldwork, Ecological States exposes the ways in which the scientific logics and practices fundamental to China's green urbanization have solidified state power and contributed to social inequality.
Jesse Rodenbiker is an assistant teaching professor of geography at Rutgers University. He is a human-environment geographer and interdisciplinary social scientist focusing on environmental governance, urbanization, and social inequality in China and globally. Rodenbiker is the author of Ecological States: Politics of Science and Nature in Urbanizing China (2023, Cornell Press) and has written for the Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Environment and Planning E, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, and other venues.
