Ecological Civilization: The Political Rhetoric of “Marxism with Chinese Characteristics”

Critics argue that the Chinese rhetorical concept of ecological civilization has been used to justify an increasingly authoritarian government without substantial improvements in China’s environmental footprint. Far from instituting an ecologically responsible socialism, China appears to be continuing on a path of rapid industrialization, growing economic inequality, and repression of individual rights. However, the concept of ecological civilization has played a significant projective, polemical, and appropriative rhetorical role in the Chinese context. An analysis of the function of ecological civilization in Chinese policy shows that it has contributed to a national self-identity based on environmental responsibility by projecting a fictionalized image of itself as an alternative to Western capitalism. The rhetoric of ecological civilization has not always translated into improved environmental policy, nor is its vision for a holistic, socialist society likely to be translated into an objective reality. Still, the concept remains a useful rhetorical tool both for the government and for Chinese citizens attempting to hold the government accountable to its stated ideals. Rather than discounting ecological civilization because of its rhetorical function, its rhetorical effects should be analyzed on its own terms. On the whole, ecological civilization as a rhetorical concept has produced positive political effects with respect to climate change and should be encouraged as a potential tool for environmental progress in China, whether it is used by the Chinese government, Chinese citizens and activists, or international environmentalists.