Governmentality and sociotechnical imaginary within the conservation-development nexus: China’s Great Yangtze River Protection Programme

Abstract

Through the case study of China’s Great Yangtze River Protection Programme (GYRPP), this study employs the perspective of governmentality to scrutinise how sociotechnical imaginary produces conservation-development nexus critically. By drawing on a large amount of literature, which conceptualises the governance of nature as rooted in power relations, this study opens up our views on the sociotechnical imaginary in the governance of nature. Through a combination of document analysis of Chinese policies and semi-structured interviews, this study argues that the GYRPP mobilised a series of techniques and practices of green governmentality, and finally formed new identities by problematising and visualising the conservation-development nexus. Moreover, China’s GYRPP is not a single-dimensional strategy. It attempts to translate and coordinate ecological knowledge through the sociotechnical imaginary of ecological civilisation, and ultimately turn nature into a governable and manageable object. Finally, ecological civilisation becomes a concrete narrative and practice of China’s future sociotechnical imaginary to shape China as a leader in sustainable development.