Technology is not a neutral instrument: it is shaped, perceived, used and changed by and through various actors and social practicesAs social scientists we believe that society is better off when technology and technology development is NOT left in the han…
Entering the twenty-first century, China has been the site of many serious environmental disasters and accidents. These have strengthened the call for the establishment of an environmental risk management system and for the development of new polic…
Direct citizen voices are relatively absent from China’s public arena andseldom influence government policymaking. In early 2004, however, publiccontroversies surrounding dam building on the Nu River prompted the Chinesegovernment to halt the proposed hyd…
ABSTRACT It is often assumed that, when citizens do not oppose pollution, it is due to their ignorance of its effects or to structural barriers to change. This article argues that a sense that pollution is inevitable is also a major obstacle. We outline th…
ABSTRACTBased on a case study in a highly industrialized village Southwest of China, this paper analyzes villagers’ logic of action facing industrial pollution. In field work, anthropological research methods, such as in-depth inte…