The next doctoral seminar welcomes Professor Chen LIU, Sun Yat-Sen University.
The title of her presentation is: What and how to sustain? Local knowledges of sustainable consumption in urban China.

The session will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. both in person at Sciences Po, Salle Goguel (entrance at 27 rue Saint-Guillaume) and remotely via Zoom. If you would like to attend, please contact Samia Ben.

Abstract:
This seminar examines the local and everyday knowledges of “sustainability” produced by urban consumers in China, based on several mixed-methods projects on daily consumption practices. It begins by situating sustainable consumption within Chinese political and public discourses through an introduction to the concept of “ecological civilisation.” Building on this context, the seminar explores how ordinary consumers understand and enact “sustainable consumption” in their everyday lives, illustrated through a range of empirical cases. In doing so, it invites critical reflection on the production of local knowledges of sustainability in Chinese society, and considers the challenges and opportunities for advancing fair and sustainable urban futures in contemporary China.

Short bio:
Chen Liu is a Professor of Cultural Geography at Sun Yat-sen University, a leading university in China and partner of Sciences Po. Her research interests encompass urban consumption, everyday practices and popular culture. She has published over 60 academic papers in English and Chinese peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes, as well as three monographs. Her recent research projects are committed to investigating digitally mediated urbanism in contemporary China. These projects pay attention to how the dynamic time-space of the everyday is situated in the contemporary commercialised world and how more-than-human practices in the mundane impact social and environmental sustainability in digital cities.

This seminar is brought to you by CSO, LIEPP and AIRE.