Professor Yu Zhangbao

Home Institution: Xiamen University, China

Visiting Period: 1 September 2011 - 1 October 2012

Research Project: Mobilization of Middle Class at Local Level in China

Research Seminar: Envrionmental Protection and Citizen Mobilzation in China

Environmental Protection and Citizen Mobilization in China

After more than 30 years of reform and opening up in China, middle class and civil society continue to grow, the middle class in China played more important role in local governance. Recent years, indeed, have witnessed a large number of middle class protests in many Chinese cities. In 2007, Xiamen residents mobilized by middle class protested against the PX (Paraxylene) Project through "collective walks". This event resonated a series of demonstrations in other Chinese cities. Shanghai middle class, for example, opposed to extend the city's magnetic levitation train, while Nanjing citizen protested against another chemical plant of PX. Meanwhile, the success of anti-PX environmental movement from Xiamen citizens not only has great significance on the history of China's environmental protection, but is a model of local governance achieved through a rational dialogue between civil society and local governments as well. In order to better understand the meaning, dynamics of these events, the Mobilization of Middle Class in China will be the subject of this research project.