Neil Munro (University of Glasgow)

This paper uses a case study of a “Zero Pollution Village” initiative in rural Zhejiang to illustrate how the Chinese state achieves its goals at different scales by harnessing the differentiation of space and political leadership in ways consistent with the principles of uneven and combined development (UCD). The ostensible goal of the initiative is to contribute to revitalisation of this village through improved solid waste management and ecotourism. For the officials sponsoring it, an underlying goal is to create a model suitable for replication elsewhere in the province. For the village residents and the returned well-to-do rural residents, known as “country sages” who lead the initiative, the goal is to maximise returns on human, natural, social, and material capital at the scale of the village and household. The case shows how UCD can become a driver of both positive and negative changes which are manipulated by the state in pursuit of hybrid capitalist-socialist development.