Papers by Mette Halskov Hansen
NIAS Press eBooks, 2010
Explores the growing individualization permeating all areas of Chinesesocial, economic and politi... more Explores the growing individualization permeating all areas of Chinesesocial, economic and political life.Offers a conceptually acute and empirically sensitive analysis.An essential contribution to ...
Comparative Education, 2013
ABSTRACT
Social Sciences
The Chinese authorities have formulated a vision for the global future that it terms ‘ecological ... more The Chinese authorities have formulated a vision for the global future that it terms ‘ecological civilization’ (shengtai wenming 生态文明). It was introduced into Communist Party ideology in 2007 and endorsed by Xi Jinping in 2013 as a major framework for the country’s environmental policies. During the 2000s, the government set in motion many stricter environmental regulations and targets in line with this vision, including opening up some new room for bottom-up, volunteer-driven initiatives mostly on waste collection, recycling, education, and sustainable agriculture. At the same time, it calls for more participation of women in environmental governance at grassroots levels. Surveys in different parts of the world, including China, have suggested that women tend to be more concerned with environmental issues than men, but we have few qualitative studies in China of this topic. This article details three case studies in which women have initiated environmental projects in their local c...
Routledge Handbook of Environmental Policy in China, 2017
Indoor Air, 2019
High levels of PM2.5 exposure and associated health risks are of great concern in rural China. Fo... more High levels of PM2.5 exposure and associated health risks are of great concern in rural China. For this study, we used portable PM2.5 monitors for monitoring concentrations online, recorded personal time-activity patterns, and analyzed the contribution from different microenvironments in one rural area of the Yangtze River Delta, China. The daily exposure levels of rural participants were 66μg/m 3 (SD 40) in winter and 65μg/m 3 (SD 16) in summer. Indoor exposure levels were usually higher than outdoor levels. The exposure levels during cooking in rural kitchens were 140μg/m 3 (SD 116) in winter and 121μg/m 3 (SD 70) in summer, the highest in all microenvironments. Winter and summer values were 252μg/m 3 (SD 103) and 204μg/m 3 (SD 105), respectively, for rural people using biomass for fuel, much higher than those for rural people using LPG and electricity. By combining PM2.5 concentrations and time spent in different microenvironments, we found that 92% (winter) and 85% (summer) of personal exposure to PM2.5 in rural areas was attributable to indoor microenvironments, of which kitchens accounted for 24% and 27%, respectively. Consequently, more effective policies and measures are needed to replace biomass fuel with LPG or electricity, which would benefit the health of the rural population in China.
The China Quarterly, 2017
This introduction provides an overview and analysis of key scientific data regarding air pollutio... more This introduction provides an overview and analysis of key scientific data regarding air pollution in China. It constitutes a reference for understanding how policymakers, media and population in China make sense of and deal with air pollution, as discussed in the other articles of the section. We summarize the major characteristics and trends regarding air pollution in China, including its main sources and composition, levels of population exposure across the country, attributable mortality, and mitigation efforts. We also compare current levels of air pollution in China with other parts of the world and in a historical perspective. While the situation remains dire in many regions, particularly the Northeast, we conclude that there are signs of relief, or at least a halt to the increase in ambient air pollution levels. At the same time, critical issues regarding unequal levels of exposure remain, and health damaging levels of air pollution in cities will undoubtedly remain high for...
The China Quarterly, 2017
This article places the study of rural environmental activism in the wider context of the Chinese... more This article places the study of rural environmental activism in the wider context of the Chinese government's promotion of Ecological Civilization (shengtai wenming 生态文明). Ecological Civilization is, we argue, a top-down imaginary of China's future that opens up space for environmental agency while setting authoritative standards for how to frame protests in a logic of science and social stability. The article compares how residents in a small cluster of villages in Zhejiang province dealt with different sources of air pollution over a span of ten years: how, when and why they chose to negotiate with local officials and industrial managers to prevent or reduce air pollution, and what the outcome was. We found that in addition to a consciousness of the right to protest, villagers had come to regard the ability to evoke science in negotiations with officials and industrial managers as crucial for success. We suggest that the forms of environmental activism we observed were in...
Environmental Science & Policy, 2019
Air pollution in Chinese cities has become a major topic of public debate and political concern. ... more Air pollution in Chinese cities has become a major topic of public debate and political concern. At the same time, few rural areas are subjected to measurements of ambient air quality, and policy documents and media rarely discuss the health and environmental risks caused by household air pollution (HAP) produced by the use of biomass for cooking and heating. Between 2014 and 2017 a cross-disciplinary team carried out a joint study of air quality and perceptions of air pollution in one of China's richest provinces, Zhejiang. We found that the ambient PM2.5 concentration in the rural villages was similar to that in the urban areas. Moreover, the 24-hour mean personal exposure to particulate pollution (PM2.5) was similar for urban and rural participants in total. However, we found indications of enhanced exposure levels in certain subgroups , such as biomass users, women, and family cooks. We found that while villagers were strongly concerned about risks of air pollution coming from nearby factories, they were largely unaware of the problem of HAP. In this article, we analyse to what extent HAP contributes to the air pollution exposure in the areas studied, and we discuss possible reasons why it has largely remained a hidden hazard. In the conclusion, we suggest that air pollution in rural areas should receive more attention from media, environmental organizations and policy makers; furthermore, that HAP in particular should be incorporated into air pollution policies to a greater extent, and its contribution to air pollution exposure in rural areas be made more publicly known. 1 The authors contributed equally to the research and share lead authorship. We wish to thank the Research Council of Norway and the Sentre for Advanced Studies, Norway, for financial and other forms of support that enabled joint fieldwork across disciplines and the co-writing of this article.
The China Quarterly, 2011
(p. xiv, fn. 4). The impact of elections on village politics has been much studied in recent year... more (p. xiv, fn. 4). The impact of elections on village politics has been much studied in recent years although no conclusions have been reached. Consistent with the mainstream view that China’s village elections have become increasingly close to the international standard, most scholars see positive consequences, including a positive correlation between elections and governance, better relations between cadres and villagers, between villages and townships, and more transparency and accountability for village government. Kevin O’Brien, one of the best known scholars in the field, who argued until recently for the empowerment effect of direct elections, diverges from the mainstream. In the central piece for part one, “Assessing village elections,” he and Rongbin Han point out a dichotomy between elections and governance: on one hand, great improvement has been made in these elections; on the other hand, the quality of governance remains stubbornly low. They propose to shift the focus of the study from elections to the institutional context of village committees to seek explanations of poor governance. Although they do not directly challenge O’Brien and Han’s assessment, the other five scholars in the forum show disagreement in various ways. Qingshan Tan is less optimistic about the status of the elections, calling for more work to standardize them, while Gunter Schubert suggests shifting the focus of study from village to legitimacy of the local state that includes township and county. Melanie Manion, John James Kennedy and Björn Alpermann, who see more positive correlations between improved village elections and of governance, point out various positive effects and consequences in village, local and even national politics. This indicates a lively debate and suggests continued diversity of views in the field. The field has been dominated by political scientists using quantitative studies based on surveys. That domination will continue because quantitative studies are necessary to provide us with broad pictures of village elections in a locality or region, if not nationwide. However, O’Brien, Manion and Schubert also call for more and better case studies like the one by Zongze Hu in this volume. O’Brien invites sociologists to “illustrate the effects of voting on various social groups” and historians to study “the antecedents of today’s elections” (p. xii). He believes that “time has come for more comparison, both domestically and internationally” (p. xiii). The merits of the book include in-depth study on a wide range of topics, timely assessment of the current status of village elections, and assessment of the state of the field, including methods, approaches and future directions. It is recommended for graduate students and scholars interested in close examination of China’s village and local politics.
Global Environmental Change, 2018
Ecological civilization (shengtai wenming 生态文明) has been written into China's constitution as the... more Ecological civilization (shengtai wenming 生态文明) has been written into China's constitution as the ideological framework for the country's environmental policies, laws and education. It is also increasingly presented not only as a response to environmental degradation in China, but as a vision for our global future. In this article, scholars from the disciplines of media science, anthropology and sinology analyse media representations of ecocivilization in order to explore which values and visions this highly profiled state project actually entails. The article argues that eco-civilization is best understood as a sociotechnical imaginary in which cultural and moral virtues constitute key components that are inseparable from the more well-known technological, judicial, and political goals. The imaginary of ecocivilization seeks to construct a sense of cultural and national continuity, and to place China at the center of the world by invoking its civilization's more than 2000 years of traditional philosophical heritage as a part of the solution for the planet's future. It is constructed as a new kind of Communist Party led utopia in which market economy and consumption continue to grow, and where technology and science have solved the basic problems of pollution and environmental degradation.
The SAGE Handbook of Contemporary China
China has the largest education system in the world, and a population who values formal education... more China has the largest education system in the world, and a population who values formal education highly and is ready to invest heavily in children's schooling. As much research has shown, this reverence for education is only partly due to rational considerations of offspring's' work opportunities. It also has its roots in a long historical trajectory of highly esteemed Confucian education and civil service exams. Since the time of the PRC, the education system has undergone a number of radical structural reforms and adaptations of content of education. Nevertheless, methods of teaching and means of socialization have proven remarkably persistent, causing intense debates about the pros and cons of the Chinese education system. The article first provides a brief overview of the structure of the education system as it has developed during the PRC, with an emphasis on the 21. century. This is followed by three sections focusing on "Knowledge and exams", "Socialization and discipline" and "Alternative paths" that places the Chinese current education system in the broader global web of educational institutions and ideologies. The article analyses and discusses why and with which consequence the Chinese population and its government have cultivated a love-hate relationship with their own education system, and it concludes with some suggestions for future research.
Environmental Science and Policy, 2018
Air pollution in Chinese cities has become a major topic of public debate and political concern. ... more Air pollution in Chinese cities has become a major topic of public debate and political concern. At the same time, few rural areas are subjected to measurements of ambient air quality, and policy documents and media rarely discuss the health and environmental risks caused by household air pollution (HAP) produced by the use of biomass for cooking and heating. Between 2014 and 2017 a cross-disciplinary team carried out a joint study of air quality and perceptions of air pollution in one of China’s richest provinces, Zhejiang. We found that the ambient PM2.5 concentration in the rural villages was similar to that in the urban areas. Moreover, the 24-hour mean personal exposure to particulate pollution (PM2.5) was similar for urban and rural participants in total. However, we found indications of enhanced exposure levels in certain sub-groups, such as biomass users, women, and family cooks. We found that while villagers were strongly concerned about risks of air pollution coming from nearby factories, they were largely unaware of the problem of HAP. In this article, we analyse to what extent HAP contributes to the air pollution exposure in the areas studied, and we discuss possible reasons why it has largely remained a hidden hazard. In the conclusion, we suggest that air pollution in rural areas should receive more attention from media, environmental organizations and policy makers; furthermore, that HAP in particular should be incorporated into air pollution policies to a greater extent, and its contribution to air pollution exposure in rural areas be made more publicly known.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901118307093
Ecological civilization (shengtai wenming 生态文明) has been written into China’s constitution as the... more Ecological civilization (shengtai wenming 生态文明) has been written into China’s constitution as the ideological framework for the country’s environmental policies, laws and education. It is also increasingly presented not only as a response to environmental degradation in China, but as a vision for our global future. In this article, scholars from the disciplines of media science, anthropology and sinology analyse media representations of eco-civilization in order to explore which values and visions this highly profiled state project actually entails. The article argues that eco-civilization is best understood as a sociotechnical imaginary in which cultural and moral virtues constitute key components that are inseparable from the more well-known technological, judicial, and political goals. The imaginary of eco-civilization seeks to construct a sense of cultural and national continuity, and to place China at the center of the world by invoking its civilization’s more than 2000 years of traditional philosophical heritage as a part of the solution for the planet’s future. It is constructed as a new kind of Communist Party led utopia in which market economy and consumption continue to grow, and where technology and science have solved the basic problems of pollution and environmental degradation.
The aim of this chapter is to show how especially anthropological and
historical research of Chin... more The aim of this chapter is to show how especially anthropological and
historical research of Chinese education can offer new insights not only into the practices of Chinese education but also into broader theoretical issues concerning Chinese politics and society.
This article places the study of rural environmental activism in the wider context of the Chinese... more This article places the study of rural environmental activism in the wider context of the Chinese government’s promotion of Ecological Civilization (shengtai wenming 生态文明). Ecological Civilization is, we argue, a top- down imaginary of China’s future that opens up space for environmental agency while setting authoritative standards for how to frame protests in a logic of science and social stability. The article compares how residents in a small cluster of villages in Zhejiang province dealt with different sources of air pollution over a span of ten years: how, when and why they chose to negotiate with local officials and industrial managers to prevent or reduce air pollution, and what the outcome was. We found that in addition to a consciousness of the right to protest, villagers had come to regard the ability to evoke science in negotiations with officials and industrial managers as crucial for success. We suggest that the forms of environmental activism we observed were in effect “containable protests” that befit the state-initiated national imaginary of an ecologically civilized world.
This article places the study of rural environmental activism in the wider context of the Chinese... more This article places the study of rural environmental activism in the wider context of the Chinese government's promotion of Ecological Civilization (shengtai wenming 生态文明). Ecological Civilization is, we argue, a top-down imaginary of China's future that opens up space for environmental agency while setting authoritative standards for how to frame protests in a logic of science and social stability. The article compares how residents in a small cluster of villages in Zhejiang province dealt with different sources of air pollution over a span of ten years: how, when and why they chose to negotiate with local officials and industrial managers to prevent or reduce air pollution, and what the outcome was. We found that in addition to a consciousness of the right to protest, villagers had come to regard the ability to evoke science in negotiations with officials and industrial managers as crucial for success. We suggest that the forms of environmental activism we observed were in effect " containable protests " that befit the state-initiated national imaginary of an ecologically civilized world.
Ahlers, Anna L. and Mette Halskov Hansen. 2016. “Kinas Luftforurensning – Kimen til sosial og pol... more Ahlers, Anna L. and Mette Halskov Hansen. 2016. “Kinas Luftforurensning – Kimen til sosial og politisk forandring?” (China’s air pollution: Seed of social and political change?) In Norsk Klimastiftelse (Norwegian Climate Foundation) (ed.) Kinas Grønne Revolusjon. Rapport no. 4, 23-26.
The manifestation of collective experiences of heavy air pollution in northern Chinese cities sin... more The manifestation of collective experiences of heavy air pollution in northern Chinese cities since the 2010s constituted a turning point for public interest in the environment and its impact on health and livelihoods. Ambient air pollution affects everybody, and the official “war” against it, declared in 2014, must take into consideration activities, perceptions and expectations among a large variety of stakeholders. We can therefore now observe contours of new and significant forms of interfaces between political authorities, scientists, public organizations, inhabitants and industries – actors who try to make sense of, debate, and combat the courses and effects of air pollution. The article provides an overview of national policy changes since the 1980s, and then focuses on two forms of interfaces that currently develop in local contexts.
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Papers by Mette Halskov Hansen
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901118307093
historical research of Chinese education can offer new insights not only into the practices of Chinese education but also into broader theoretical issues concerning Chinese politics and society.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901118307093
historical research of Chinese education can offer new insights not only into the practices of Chinese education but also into broader theoretical issues concerning Chinese politics and society.
In spite of the intense preoccupation with individual and self in modern Western thought, the social sciences have tended to focus on groups and collectives and downplay (even disregard) the individual. This implicit view has also coloured the study of social life in China where both Confucian ethics and Communist policies have shaped collective structures with little room for individual agency and choice.
What is actually happening, however, is a growing individualization of China – not only changing perceptions of the individual but also rising expectations for individual freedom, choice and individuality. The individual has also become a basic social category in China, and a development has begun that permeates all areas of social, economic and political life. How this process evolves in a state and society lacking two of the defining characteristics of European individualization – a culturally embedded democracy and a welfare system – is one of the questions that the volume explores.
A strength of this volume is that its authors succeed in depicting the individualization process in conceptually acute and empirically sensitive terms, and as something with its own distinctively Chinese profile. That makes this book a ‘must read’ for all those wanting to understand present-day Chinese society, with all of its ambivalences, contingencies and contradictions.
Moreover, the volume makes an essential contribution to the current debate in sociology about how the meaning of ‘modernity’ should be conceptualized and redefined from a cosmopolitan perspective.
那么，如何理解正在崛起的个体、及其在中国和世界范围内广泛而深远的影响。根本的问题在于：中国社会，是否像西方社会一样，正在经历一种个体化的进程？
作为一项持续数年的实证合作研究，《"自我中国":现代中国社会中个体的崛起》深刻地揭示了：在中国，个人已经成为一个基本社会范畴的事实。中国已经出现了一种发展趋势，并渗透到社会生活的各个方面。这种发展不仅决定了私人领域、家庭结构和两性关系，也决定了经济的组织方式和灵活的就业，以及同样重要的，个人与国家之间的关系。同时，《"自我中国":现代中国社会中个体的崛起》也从不同的角度表明，这一中国式的个体化进程具有其独特性，它并非是对欧洲个体化路径的单纯复制。
因此，所有想要了解当今中国社会基本构成——包括其两面性、偶然性和矛盾性等——的读者，都必须读一读《"自我中国":现代中国社会中个体的崛起》。
"Kina - stat, samfunn og individ" tar for seg de siste årtiers politiske og samfunnsmessige endringer i landet, og viser hvordan disse har påvirket kinesernes liv og deres relasjoner til familien, lokalsamfunnet og staten. Boken gir innblikk i de lokale og globale spenningene som former Kinas nåtid og avgjør landets framtid.
Forfatterne tar utgangspunkt i kinesernes egne liv og erfaringer - hvordan de lever hjemme, på arbeidsplassen og i det offentlige rom. Men Kina settes også inn i en global kontekst, og boken tar for seg både landets stadig mer betydningsfulle rolle i verdenssamfunnet og ser nærmere på globaliseringen, slik den oppleves av innbyggerne.
"Kina - stat, samfunn og individ" tar for seg de siste årtiers politiske og samfunnsmessige endringer i landet, og viser hvordan disse har påvirket kinesernes liv og deres relasjoner til familien, lokalsamfunnet og staten. Boken gir innblikk i de lokale og globale spenningene som former Kinas nåtid og avgjør landets framtid.
Forfatterne tar utgangspunkt i kinesernes egne liv og erfaringer - hvordan de lever hjemme, på arbeidsplassen og i det offentlige rom. Men Kina settes også inn i en global kontekst, og boken tar for seg både landets stadig mer betydningsfulle rolle i verdenssamfunnet og ser nærmere på globaliseringen, slik den oppleves av innbyggerne.
Frontier People shows how the Han themselves have been directly involved in the process of transformation within these areas where they have settled. Their perceptions of the minority natives, their “old home,” other immigrants, and their own role in the areas are examined in relation to the official discourse on the migrations. This study contests conventional ways of presenting Han immigrants in minority areas as a homogeneous group of colonizers with shared identification, equal class status, and access to power. Based on extensive fieldwork in two local areas, Frontier People demonstrates that the category of “Han immigrants” is profoundly fragmented in terms of generation, ethnic identification, migration history, class, and economic activity. In this respect, the book makes an invaluable contribution to the literature on colonization from the varying perspectives of the colonizers – a diverse group of people with equally diverse perceptions of the colonial project in which they play an integral part.
This incisive volume will appeal to a wide range of scholars and students of anthropology, Asian studies, history, and immigration studies.