Book Reviews (PDF version)

Anita Chan (ed.), Chinese Workers in Comparative Perspective

Editorial

Resisting Naphtha Crackers. A historical survey of environmental politics in Taiwan.

ABSTRACT: Protests against naphtha crackers have been an important trend in Taiwan’s environmentalism since their emergence in the mid-1980s. This article analyses ten protest cases (1987-2011) to understand the evolution of environmental politics. I draw the following conclusions: (1) with the growing public awareness of pollution, new petrochemical projects are increasingly facing popular opposition; (2) the environmental movement assumes less partisanship, although ideological differences between the political parties still remains; (3) the mobilising capacity of NGOs is on the rise and has become the key factor in the success of protests. KEYWORDS: environmentalism, Petrochemical Industry, Naphtha Crackers, Environmental Impact Assessment, Taiwan.

The Maoming Anti-PX Protest of 2014: An environmental movement in contemporary China

ABSTRACT: China has witnessed several peaceful and successful anti-PX (para-xylene) protests in Xiamen, Dalian, and Ningbo in recent years. However, the protest in Maoming in 2014 turned out to be a noteworthy exception. By using participant observation and in-depth interview data, this article raises the following observations: first, in spite of official propaganda, Maoming citizens actually understand the environmental risk of PX production because of their personal experiences with existing pollution as well as from their knowledge of the Xiamen incident. Secondly, the Maoming protest proceeded in a less organised manner, which explains its violent tendencies. Finally, the large-scale protest was able to proceed without the support of mainstream media and the middle class due to the use of online social media and local knowledge of the urban terrain. KEYWORDS: Maoming anti-PX Protest, Environmental movement, Social media, Protest mobilisation