Air Pollution: How Will China Win its Self-Declared War Against it?

Abstract

In this chapter, we first provide an overview of the design and dynamics of China’s major national policies regarding air quality control and air pollution prevention, hereafter called ‘air policy’. We then briefly zoom in on two concrete examples of interfaces related to control of the industry, and consumption habits and life styles, mainly based on data collected in the province of Zhejiang. We present them here as prototypes of interfaces that manifest themselves in local contexts where different stakeholders take action. We deliberately apply the concept of ‘social interface’ rather than the more frequently used ‘interaction’ or ‘participation’. The notion of interface better captures the relationship between different actors’ worldviews, attitudes, and agency related to air pollution and air policies. It leaves open the possibility that these relations are often not a result of conscious or rational choice but just as much imply spontaneous, and sometimes enforced or involuntary, contacts with unequal levels of ‘action’. So for example, the relationship between, on the one hand, a government agency implementing policies that restrict vehicle use and, on the other hand, the population targeted in such a campaign, is not necessarily characterized by ‘interaction’ or even attempts at ‘participation’. Nevertheless, the very meeting or encounter—the social interface—of these parties’ different and sometimes conflicting values, perceptions, and interests may be crucial for understanding the relevance and outcome of the policy in question. This chapter was originally published by Routledge © 2017