Green Shoots of Revival: Political Leadership and the Differentiation of Space in a “Zero Pollution Village” in Rural Zhejiang, China

Abstract

This article uses a case study of a “Zero Pollution Village” (ZPV) initiative in Zhejiang, China, to illustrate how the Chinese state attempts to achieve rural revitalisation by harnessing the principles of uneven and combined development (UCD) and relying on the leadership of returned migrants known as “country sages” (乡贤, xiangxian). The ostensible goals of the initiative are to improve solid waste management and develop ecotourism, creating a model suitable for replication elsewhere. Village residents and the “country sages” aim to maximise returns on human, natural, social, and material resources at the scale of the village and household. The case shows how UCD can become a driver of both positive and negative changes which are manipulated by the state in pursuit of hybrid capitalist-socialist development. The research is based on research visits and follow-up interviews from 2019 to 2022.