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Governing China’s coal challenge: changing public policy, debate and advocacy
This paper examines the nexus of coal–government–society relations in present-day China using a governmentality approach to explore the interactions between policy change, “crisis” management and social action. It outlines the noticeable shift in government rationalities and communication regarding the coal industry in recent years. It then frames this shift within the broader context of government–society relations focusing on public debate regarding the calamitous nature of China’s air pollution and its filtering via the censorship apparatus of the Communist Party-state. Finally, it shows how problems relating to coal extraction and combustion have been taken up at the level of grass-roots protest and philanthropic advocacy. An examination of such activism illustrates the crucial role played by digital media networks in sparking debate on coal-related environmental and health crises, and in pushing an authoritarian government to change national coal and other policies in order to maintain social and political stability.
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Environmental communicationVolume
12Issue
5Pagination
575 - 588Publisher
Taylor & FrancisLocation
London, Eng.Publisher DOI
ISSN
1752-4032eISSN
1752-4040Language
engPublication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2018, InformaUsage metrics
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