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Cosmopolitan Risk Community and China's Climate Governance

Zhang, Joy Yueyue (2015) Cosmopolitan Risk Community and China's Climate Governance. European Journal of Social Theory, 18 (3). pp. 327-342. ISSN 1368-4310. (doi:10.1177/1368431015579970) (KAR id:47665)

Abstract

Ulrich Beck asserts that global risks, such as climate change, generate a form of ‘compulsory cosmopolitanism’, which ‘glues’ various actors into collective action. Through an analysis of emerging ‘cosmopolitan risk communities’ in Chinese climate governance, this paper points out a ‘blind spot’ in the theorisation of cosmopolitan belonging and an associated inadequacy in explaining shifting power-relations. The paper addresses this problem by engaging with the intersectionality of the cosmopolitan space. It is argued that cosmopolitan belonging is a form of performative identity. Its key characteristic lies in a ‘liberating prerogative’, which enables individuals to participate in the solution of common problems creatively. It is this liberating prerogative that coerces the state out of political monopoly and marks the cosmopolitan moment.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1177/1368431015579970
Uncontrolled keywords: Cosmopolitanisation, belonging, intersectionality, governance, Beck
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User: Joy Y Zhang
Date Deposited: 21 Apr 2015 12:59 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Feb 2021 13:23 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/47665 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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