Date: Tuesday November 5, 2024

Time: 11:45AM – 1:15PM

Location: IB 2025

Speaker:Virginie Arantes

Postdoctoral researcher funded by the National Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.-FNRS)

Host: Coraline Goron

Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy, Duke Kunshan University

Abstract

As climate change intensifies, the interplay between environmental discourse and nationalism has become increasingly significant but remains underexplored. This project examines how environmentalism intersects with nation-building in China, Singapore, and Taiwan—three Chinese-speaking societies governed by authoritarian, hybrid, and democratic regimes. While eco-nationalism has been studied in various contexts, the influence of non-Western political systems on national identity through environmental rhetoric has received less attention. Utilizing the concept of green nationalism, this research investigates (1) how these regimes use environmental discourse to gain international legitimacy, (2) how such narratives reshape national identity, and (3) the dynamics between state, society, and the environment. By highlighting the political mobilization of sustainability, this study deepens our understanding of how environmental discourse both reinforces and transforms national identity. It challenges prevailing assumptions and uncovers new dimensions of the environmental-nationalist nexus, offering insights into its broader implications for climate cooperation.

Bio

Virginie Arantes earned her Ph.D. in Political and Social Sciences from the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in 2020. From 2021 to 2023, she was a Wiener-Anspach & Wolfson College Research Fellow at Oxford University. Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher funded by the National Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.-FNRS). Her research focuses on global environmental politics, governance, and nationalism, with a particular emphasis on China and Asia, bridging political, environmental, and social dimensions.

Her current work examines the impact of green nationalism on national identity in South and Southeast Asia, exploring how environmental narratives are employed for state legitimacy and identity construction, with broader implications in the era of climate change.