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Climate Revolution or Long March? The Politics of Low-Carbon Transformation in China (1992-2015). The Power Sector as Case Study

par Goron, Coraline
Président du jury Frangville, Vanessa
Promoteur Foret, François ;Breslin, Shaun
Publication Non publié, 2017-12-15

Thèse de doctorat

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Résumé :

The object of this thesis is to analyse the politics involved in low-carbon transformations from the point of view of the exercise of state power in the economy. It starts from the premise that large-scale socio-technical transformations such as that required by the overhaul of energy systems based on the burning of fossil fuels involve confrontations of interests and ideologies, and therefore are contentious and political. The objective of the thesis is to analyse how this political challenge has unfolded in China, which is relevant not only because of its global environmental impact, but also because its industrialisation experience invites a reflection on the way in which these issues have been analysed in the West. Thus, the thesis explores how, in China, the necessity to address environmental issues has transformed the way in which the state exercises its power over the economy, particularly over the electric power system. The research involves a longitudinal analysis of the political transformation of China’s state institutions from the 1980s to 2015, as well as two case studies in the field of low-carbon policy: the promotion of renewable energy and the implementation of administrative pollution targets in the electric power sector. The focus on the production of electric power stems from both its centrality to China’s low-carbon transformation and the particular position of the electric power industry in the market reforms. The key findings of this research are twofold. Firstly, the CPC absorbed environmental claims in its developmental doctrine, which validated the resort to authoritarian interventions in the economy and society, and by the same token also increased the resistance to them, undermining the construction of a rule-based state power. Secondly, it finds that the political logic of the market reforms, characterised by an expansionary economic logic accompanied by periodical political interventions to correct perceived excesses, also characterised the way in which the green transformation was handled.