From rural transformation to global integration: comparative analyses of the environmental dimensions of China’s rise

An American geographer and specialist on Asia’s environments reviews three theoretical frameworks (Classical, Ecological Modernization, and Critical Political Ecology) that offer different prognoses and solutions to the problem of environmental degradation in China. He argues that the former two approaches limit understanding of (and available solutions to) China’s environmental problems, often framed in environmental crisis narratives. He demonstrates how the third framework (Critical Political Ecology) offers an alternative analysis of the fundamental environmental issues accompanying China’s rise, yielding quite different insights informing policy and practice.