Toxic Politics
China's Environmental Health Crisis and its Challenge to the Chinese State

China's deepening health crisis reveals the fragility of the party-state and undercuts China's ability to project influence internationally.

Yanzhong Huang (Author)

9781108841917, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 October 2020

282 pages
23.5 x 16 x 2.1 cm, 0.52 kg

'… Toxic Politics is one of the most readable texts on China and the environment. Readers in search of a well-written book on this topic need look no further.' Yifei Li, Political Science Quarterly

Environmental degradation in China has not only brought a wider range of diseases and other health consequences than previously understood, it has also taken a heavy toll on Chinese society, the economy, and the legitimacy of the party-state. In Toxic Politics, Yanzhong Huang presents new evidence of China's deepening health crisis and challenges the widespread view that China is winning the war on pollution. Although government leaders are learning, stricter and more centralized policy enforcement measures have not been able to substantially reduce pollution or improve public health. Huang connects this failure to pathologies inherent in the institutional structure of the Chinese party-state, which embeds conflicting incentives for officials and limits the capacity of the state to deliver public goods. Toxic Politics reveals a political system that is remarkably resilient but fundamentally flawed. Huang examines the implications for China's future, both domestically and internationally.

Part I: 1. Health effects of environmental degradation
2. Economic, sociopolitical and foreign policy impacts
Part II: 3. Evolving environmental health policy
4. Implementing environmental health policy
5. An assessment of policy effectiveness
Notes
Index.

Subject Areas: Social impact of environmental issues [RNT], Environment law [LNKJ], International relations [JPS], Asian history [HBJF]