Talk Title: Building Consensus: Support Structure and the Frames of Environmental Legal Mobilization in China

Time: Thursday, Feb 23rd, 2023, 4 pm – 5 pm

Room: IB 1051

Speaker: Xiangyi Ren, Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology from the University of Chicago

Host: Charles Chang, Assistant Professor of Environmental and Urban Studies at DKU

Abstract of the paper

This article examines the relationship between law and social movements by analyzing civil environmental public interest litigation in China after 2015. Based on the fieldwork in China, this research examines the dynamics of environmental legal mobilization and identifies the support structure that mobilizes legal actions. This article finds that three main frames will impact the support structure in a way that social groups need to construct a consensus with state authorities: (1) assisting the government; (2) advocating policy change and promoting legal reforms; and (3) resolving local environmental problems. This research sheds new light on legal mobilization theory and argues that China’s legal reform will open new pathways for robust social participation and signify a more formal rule of law.

Short biography of Xiangyi Ren

My intellectual interests revolve around knowledge-making and social change, with a focus on legal change. My paper examines the divergent making of public interest litigation regimes in China, in which I examine the different developmental trajectories between the law-making of environmental public interest litigation (EPIL) and consumer public interest litigation (CPIL) regimes. The analysis shows that the production of different kinds of legal knowledge provides different opportunities for grassroots NGOs; only some are capable of demanding legal outcomes that reflect their goals. My dissertation project explores the development of various kinds of specialized trial organizations in China, including specialized tribunals and specialized courts.