ABSTRACTS

What does Degrowth Mean？A few Points of Clarification☉Jason Hickel， trans， Tang Fafa

Degrowth is a planned reduction of energy and resource use designed to bring the economy back into balance with the living world in a way that reduces inequality and improves human well-being. Over the past few years， the idea has attracted significant attention among academics and social movements， but for people new to the idea it raises a number of questions. Here I set out to clarify three specific issues：（1）I specify what degrowth means， and argue that the framing of degrowth is an asset， not a liability;（2）I explain how degrowth differs fundamentally from a recession; and（3）I affirm that degrowth is primarily focused on high-income nations， and explore the implications of degrowth for the global South.

Degrowth and Socialism： Notes on Some Critical Junctures

☉Güney Ilt;F：＼2024鄱陽湖學刊第3期＼s.tifgt;kara amp; [O] [ǖ]zgür Narin， trans， Li Shuai amp; Li Zhenbang

As an important paradigm of contemporary capitalist criticism， the theory of “degrowth” has gradually converged with socialism in the face of global energy exhaustion， unequal distribution of resources and its own theoretical shortcomings. This paper analyzes the internal tension between the two， based on the weakness of the degrowth theory which cannot break with capitalism completely and the experience and lessons of the socialist planned economy， and examines the possibility of the combination of degrowth and socialism. On the basis of going beyond the simple dichotomy， this paper discusses the scientificity and operability of combining market and plan， unifying self-discipline and heteronomy， and coordinating democracy and centralization， and puts forward three theoretical approaches of localization， autonomy and negotiation to overcome the one-sidedness of existing theory and practice. Finally， the article emphasizes the primacy of practical movement， whether it is degrowth or socialist theory should take realistic movement as the premise. To enhance human welfare and demonstrate the superiority of the socialist system in the criticism of the reality of capitalism.

The Inheritance and Promotion of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Ecological Civilization to Marxist Concept of Civilization☉Wu Ning， Chen Wenli amp; Pu Tiangang

Xi Jinping’s ecological civilization thought is a scientific theoretical system that is guided by the Marxist view of civilization， rooted in the ecological wisdom of China’s excellent traditional culture， and has been formed and developed on the basis of summarizing the ecological thoughts of successive leaders. It inherits the Marxist view of civilization from three aspects： theoretical logic， historical perspective， and value orientation， enriching the theoretical form and practical path of the Marxist view of civilization. Xi Jinping’s ecological civilization thought highlights the ecological value of the Marxist view of civilization， enriches its transformation theory， and innovates its development concept. It is of great significance for the development of the Marxist view of civilization in the new era， the promotion of building a beautiful China， and the realization of a harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.

Creating the World with a Single Word： Ecological Civilization in the Context of the AI Revolution☉Xiao Yilin

The AI revolution is a transformation of the civilization paradigm driven by technological faith， with AI technology as both the vehicle and means of this belief. It transcends economic rationality， merges empiricism and transcendentalism， and surpasses individual and collective levels. Technological faith， the unwavering belief in advancing human civilization through technological innovation， holds the central position in the AI revolution. Although the AI revolution encompasses elements of all technological revolutions， it far exceeds them as well as the Industrial Revolution， manifesting as an unprecedented shift in the civilization paradigms. It is because the AI revolution provides an unparalleled platform and foundation for the free and comprehensive development of humanity. Every individual can access the achievements of human civilization online at nearly zero marginal cost and have the opportunity for free and comprehensive development in any area of their interest. The AI revolution has profoundly changed the mode of social production， which will be transformed into a highly organic unity of individual freedom， comprehensive development， and the progress of human civilization. This could potentially lead to a mode of social production that surpasses Marxist communism. Influenced by the AI revolution， enterprises are about to undergo significant transformations and traditional enterprises will be redefined. Meanwhile， as free and comprehensive development becomes possible， work and career will also be separated. Humans will no longer define their identity by their jobs. It will be possible for people to engage in multiple professions across different fields and industries. It is necessary to distinguish between AI as a technological form and AI as a revolution. The two are related but different. The former does not necessarily lead to the latter， and the latter does not necessarily have to be based on AI technological innovation. This is also the difference between general technological revolutions， the Industrial Revolution， and the AI revolution. The AI revolution will drive innovation and transformation in most areas of society， but AI as a technological form may not necessarily propel transformation in other fields. The AI revolution has significantly altered the connotation of ecological civilization， elevating it from one of many sub-civilizations to the baseline of human civilization. The impact of the AI revolution on ecological civilization is manifested in three aspects. First， the impact of AI as a technological form on ecological civilization can be seen in the application of various AI technologies in the construction of ecological civilization. These technologies have a positive contribution but are limited in the face of ecological crises. Second， the AI revolution has a potential impact on ecological civilization， including the disruption of the global energy structure， the development of ecological education， the transformation of both the supply and demand sides of ecological civilization， the shift in the utilization of natural resources， and the comprehensive and healthy development of humans as an ecological species. Third is the impact on existing theories of ecological civilization. Mainstream theories such as ecological economics， degrowth， and ecological Marxism will be significantly challenged， and they may also" be transformed or improved in the process. However， due to the limitations inherent in AI theory and capitalism， the AI revolution may also mutate. Humanity might become free slaves to technology， and might even be replaced or annihilated. With the militarization of AI， there is a risk of severe damage or even destruction to ecological civilization. Therefore， it is necessary to seize the opportunity of the AI revolution， adhere to the faith in the AI revolution， pursue a new type of globalization， move beyond national and ideological competition， strive for super alignment， and truly make AI a public asset of all humanity rather than the private property of any single country， thereby making a genuine contribution to the benefit of humanity and the Earth.

Wordsworth’s Tidal Georgic☉Ralph Pite， trans， Wei Qingqi

Ecocritics find the georgic less appealing as it interferes with， alters， or exploits a pristine nature for human ends. They instead prefer romantic poetry which manifests a strong tendency to pastoralize. While William Wordsworth’s 1798 poem ‘Tintern Abbey’ epitomises the pastoral that ecocriticism celebrates， in this case at least， there may be such greater continuity between the pastoral and the georgic that the two may be conjoined. Besides，‘Tintern Abbey’ possesses qualities of the tides that inhabit， respond to， and reflect upon their oscillating movement. Since the poem ebbs and flows， beginning with a return and ending with departure in prospect， its arc is tidal， and this shape is extended beyond the poem’s ending. This sense of going back again is repeated in the poem’s closing lines， the echo of which in the opening continues the poem’s cyclical and tidal pattern.

The Narrative of Vehicles in Sister Carrie from a Material Ecocritical Perspective☉Wei Qingqi

Viewed from the lens of material ecocriticism， vehicles， like many other objects， have long surpassed their transportation tool attributes and become a powerful and storied thing. This is dramatically exemplified in Sister Carrie， where the entire plot rides on the vehicle， leaving vivid marks of the protagonists Carrie and Hustwood’s life curves. In this process， the vehicle is one of numerous material elements， but also the most present one， accompanying the hero’s ups and downs， and his fate can be read as a story of a car accident， while the vehicle， as a device of inherent mobility and agency， seems to be accelerating this process. The vehicle completes its transformation from a functional object to a constructive one with its own unique mobility. The narrative of things represented by vehicle may continue to extend into the invisible world. People need to always reflect on their own behaviors in order to learn better how to navigate in this era of increasingly advanced artificial intelligence.

Intersectionality and Integration： The Current State， Prospect and Trend of Ecofeminist Research

☉Liu Dandan amp; Wei Qingqi

Professor Wei Qingqi is a well-known ecocritic scholar in China and currently teaches at the School of Foreign Languages， Southeast University. He has been engaged in environmental criticism， ecofeminist studies， gender studies， and literary translation for a long time， and has successively completed two national social science fund projects. He has published dozens of academic papers in authoritative domestic and foreign academic journals， and has published monographs on ecological criticism， such as Green-Clap Scholarship： An Interpretive Study of Ecocriticism（2010）， Ecofeminism（2019）， as well as dozens of translated works， including Going Away to Think（2010）， When Women Were Birds（2021） and Oryx and Crake（2021）. He has won the Excellent Achievement Award in Philosophy and Social Science of Jiangsu Province， Zijin Mountain Translation Award and the nomination for the Lu Xun Literature Prize in Translation. At the request of the editorial department of Poyang Lake Journal， Liu Dandan conducted an in-depth interview with Professor Wei Qingqi regarding the current status and the prospect of environmental humanities. In the interview， Professor Wei expects an outlook that ecocriticism will push us beyond the narrow and closed boundaries of humanities to think about our connections with the other-than-human realm. An environmental holism is the driving force for the sustainability of ecofeminism， and it is also the reasonable choice for social progressive movements that are determined to go onto a higher stage both at the theoretical and practical levels. Ecofeminism with a holistic critical approach will thereby play an even more active role in general literary and cultural studies.

Tranquility Is Beyond Price and Nature Writing Reading☉Shi Haiyu， Li Xuejun amp; Zhou Xue

Professor Cheng Hong at Capital University of Business and Economics is among the first scholars engaged in nature writing studies. She has been diligently working on British and American nature writing as well as ecocriticism since 1990s. In Tranquility Is Beyond Price， published in 2009 and widely acclaimed by academia and readership， she makes a systematic summary and review of the classic writers and their works in British and American nature writing. Professor Cheng sees nature writing as criticism， compensation， and retrospection of the previous relationship between man and nature. With love for nature and concern for the surviving status of people in contemporary society， she has conducted her research on nature writing through close reading of numerous texts， restoring the moving literary moments when writers encountered nature and inviting readers to have silent conversations with all the things in nature. She intends to evoke public awareness of harmonious coexistence with ecological environment， and encourages people to find a sublime spiritual world while urging them to adopt a new lifestyle beneficial not only to their own physical and mental health but also to the later generations. Upon the arrival of World Book Day， Zhou Xue， a presenter of M-Type Podcasts， invited two guests to talk about Tranquility Is Beyond the Price and other related topics. One guest is Professor Shi Haiyu， the director of the Nature Writing Centre in the School of Foreign Languages at Capital University of Business and Economics， and the other is Li Xuejun， the general editor of M-Type. They discussed nature writing from its origin， characteristics， various artistic representations， and influence on readers. They also analyzed the three-dimensional landscapes of nature writing （namely， the landscape， the soundscape， and the soulscape） and the reading value of Tranquility Is Beyond the Price， and shared their wonderful experiences of reading nature writing.

China’s Early Effortsin Industrial Wastewater Management： A Study Based on Typical Water Pollution Disasters in the Late 1950s☉Liang Zhiping

Water pollution is a concomitant issue of" industrialization and urbanization. Following the completion of China’s First Five Year Plan， some regions have experienced serious water pollution disasters. The late 1950s witnessed severe wastewater pollution disasters at the Northeast Industrial Base， Hanyang Paper Mill， and Changshou Chemical Plant which profoundly impacted the lives of nearby residents and endangered public health. The Chinese government dispatched scientific researchers to investigate and manage industrial wastewater pollution. Constrained by the developmental paradigms of the era， the approach to governance primarily centered on hygiene and disease control， examining the rivers’ maximum dilution capacity for industrial wastewater to strike a balance between direct discharge into rivers and public health protection， rather than targeting the sources of water pollution. As a result， the issue of industrial wastewater pollution was not fundamentally resolved. Nevertheless， the endeavors in industrial wastewater management during the late 1950s contributed to the training and development of a significant number of environmental scientists， providing a robust talent pool for subsequent research and mitigation efforts in environmental pollution in China.

The Evolving Connotation of the Category of “Vein” and Its Ecophilosophical Implications

☉Chen Jixu

The connotation of the category of “vein” has gone through a continuous process of expansion. With its initial meaning of blood vessels， “vein” was used to refer to the body and then to kinship or blood relations. Due to its characteristics of being coherent and establishing its own system， “vein” was taken as an analogy in ancient times with natural phenomena and applied in the description of macro geological landscapes such as mountains and rivers. Hence the concepts of “water vein”， “mountain vein”，“earth vein”，“l(fā)and vein”， and so on. The category of“vein” was thus endowed with the ecological implication. Furthermore， because “l(fā)and vein” and the fate of people were closely connected with the survival of the nation， the category of “vein” was enriched by concepts about national governance such as“fate vein”，“country vein”，“sovereignty vein”， etc. When the experience and wisdom of national governance were summarized as“cultural vein” and“philosophical vein”， the category of “vein” developed its philosophical implication. Today， “vein” is widely applied in various fields， even in explaining the important theories in both natural science and humanities and social sciences. In this way， it is given the methodological implication from the perspective of the theory of knowledge and natural history. The ecological implication is the core of the logical correlation among the multiple implications of the category of “vein”， which aligns with the practice that ancient people carried out political， economic， cultural and cognitive activities by following the idea that “heaven and man are united as one”.

The Evolution and Reflection on the Ethical Defense of Vegetarianism in the West☉Jiang Wei

Vegetarianism is not only related to personal dietary habits， but also involves profound ethical issues.The key to ethical defense of vegetarianism lies in whether animals are recognized as having the same moral status as humans. Since modern times， there have been two main views on the moral status of animals in the West， namely， animal instrumentalism and indirect obligation theory. However， contemporary vegetarianism advocates believe that neither can provide strong ethical support for vegetarianism. Represented by Bentham， hedonic utilitarianism and preference utilitarianism represented by Singer believe that humans have a direct moral obligation to animals. The former believes that all creatures that can feel pain and happiness should be treated morally equally， while the latter adds the preference standard on the basis of inheriting and developing the former， and advocates vegetarianism for the purpose of maximizing happiness. However， they are all consequentialist ethics， which is difficult to prove that persistence in vegetarianism is the responsibility of humans. Starting from the perspective of deontology， Reagan advocates that individuals have moral rights independent of consequences， trying to provide a more powerful ethical defense for vegetarianism. However， there are also some limitations in the aspects of the boundaries of life subjects， natural law and food chain， inherent value， and moral subjects. Although vegetarianism has many advantages， it cannot be viewed in an abstract way the relationship between humans and animals，" let alone reduce the moral status and dignity of human beings.

Research Progress and Comparative Reflection on China’s Modern Environmental Governance

☉Li Jingyi

Environmental governance is an essential part of the national governance system and governance capacity， and modern environmental governance issues have both academic value and practical guidance. It is particularly vital to systematically sort out and summarize the key issues and weak links in the study of modern environmental governance in China. Overall， the research on modern environmental governance in China has primarily depicted the basic landscape of modern environmental governance practices in three aspects： first， the continuous deepening of the direction of pluralistic co-governance in terms of the subject and action structure; second， the evident trend towards interactivity in governance mechanisms based on changing objectives; and third， the adaptation of governance methods and approaches to different governance situations and risk iteration." Further analysis reveals significant differences between international perspectives and the Chinese context in environmental governance research， with existing studies having room for improvement in terms of framework， methodology， and theoretical construction. In the future， research on modern environmental governance in China should focus on optimizing the selective application and autonomous construction of research frameworks， continuously improving research methods to explore deeper mechanism issues， and strengthening the conceptual refinement and knowledge system construction of localization， in order to better serve the theoretical construction and policy practice of China’s comprehensive modern environmental governance system.

Innovation and Integration： Multi-dimensional Exploration of Green Development in the New Era—Summary of the Forum on Green Development and Chinese Modernization

☉Yin Zhonghai， Hu Yu amp; Cheng Xinyuan

The 2024 Forum on Green Development and Chinese Modernization， convened in Nanchang， delved into the theme of “Green Development and Chinese Modernization”. The forum addressed the opportunities and challenges faced by environmental sociology and green social work within the framework of Chinese modernization. In-depth discussions were conducted on six key topics： Uncertainty and Urban-Rural China， Green Development and Social Work， County Governance and Chinese Modernization， Environmental Risks and Public Willingness， Population Health and Green Development， and New Quality Productive Forces and Green Development. The discussion results of the forum will help to understand the important statement of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China that Chinese modernization is the modernization of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. These findings also promote the integration of new quality productive forces with green development issues in academic discussions.

責任編輯：王俊暐