Poster short abstract:

The Chinese party-state rhetoric is focused on producing discourses of future environmental civilization whereas the current question of sustainability shapes the local greenspace as a space of uncertainty. Alternative digital narratives of awareness may evoke a sense of social responsibility.

Poster long abstract:

Over the past decade, China’s centralized politics have explored new resources to tame the sustainability question and hinder the possibility for narratives of crisis to institutionalize foci of social and territorial malaise. The party-state rhetoric has focused its attention on inverse discourses of future environmental civilization whereas the current conjuncture shapes the local greenspace as a space defined by uncertainty.

Taking Chongqing City as a case study, this poster shows how environmental crisis discourses may help redefine the commons in transitional times characterized by neoliberal practices of privatization of nature reserves and green objectifying high-end real estate advertisement. It points out how the crisis may become an opportunity for further uneven development based on individualized forms of environmental protection. On the other hand, alternative digital narratives of awareness may evoke a sense of social responsibility to understand the territorial changes and avoid a complete de-politicization of the commons.

This poster points out how the production and circulation of eco-commodities is deeply intertwined with discourses of proximity and emotion adding new meanings to landscapes characterized by an uncertain future.