Wind fortunes: Political ecology, state–firm interactions, and the making of green industrial paths in Guangdong, China

Many regions across the world are seeking to initiate the green transformation of their economies. Economic geographers have often explained this transformation as an outcome of firm-driven creation of new development paths distinguished by a green emphasis. However, this explanation tends to neglect two mediating factors of this green path development process. First, firms’ efforts in green path development are mediated by their interaction with state authorities. Second, as the political ecology literature reminds us, these state–firm interactions are situated within particular biophysical environments and the politics surrounding them. To address these deficits, this paper develops a political-ecologically more sensitive approach to the geography of green economic transformation, drawing attention to the state–firm interactions involved and their ecological situatedness. Through a case study of the wind power industry in the Chinese province of Guangdong, we investigate how materiality, in the form of raw materials, biophysical impacts, and environmental implications, shapes state–firm interactions as they unfold across scales and over time to influence green path development. Incorporating political ecology perspectives into the study of green path development enriches our understanding of the dynamics underpinning green economic restructuring.