The Great Smog of China: A Short Event History of Air Pollution (Asia Shorts)

About the Author

Anna Lisa Ahlers leads the Lise Meitner Research Group »China in the Global System of Science« at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin. Previously, she was associate professor in China studies at the University of Oslo. In recent years, she has worked on rural governance reforms and the urban "war against smog" in China, as well as the bipolarity of authoritarianism and democracy in the 21st century. Main publications include: Rural Policy Implementation in Contemporary China: New Socialist Countryside (2014), Democratic and Authoritarian Political Systems in 21st Century World Society (2020, with D. Krichewsky, E. Moser and R. Stichweh). Mette Halskov Hansen is professor in China studies, University of Oslo. She has done research on minority education, ethnic identities, internal colonization, individualization and, most recently, (air) pollution and human agency in China. She is currently PI for a new collaborative project that explores spiritually inspired environmental movements in China, Taiwan and India, and their potential for generating local and global change. Main publications include: Lessons in Being Chinese (1999), Frontier People: Han Settlers in Ethnic Minority Areas of China (2005), iChina: The Rise of the Individual in Modern China (2010 with Svarverud), and Educating the Chinese Individual (2015). Rune Svarverud is professor of China studies at the University of Oslo. Initially, Svarverud engaged with ancient Chinese philosophy and philological studies. Later, he shifted attentions towards the cultural, scientific, and intellectual transfer of ideas between China and the West. In recent years he has engaged with the history of environmental degradation and air pollution in China. Main publications include: Methods of the Way: Early Chinese Ethical Thought (1998), International Law as World Order in Late Imperial China: Translation, Reception and Discourse, 1847-1911 (2007), iChina: The Rise of the Individual in Modern China (2010 with Hansen).