Environmental protests and NIMBY activism: Local politics and waste management in Beijing and Guangzhou

Protests in post-Mao China not only indicate citizens’ increasing dissatisfaction but also challenge the regime to act and take appropriate measures. This article discusses local government response to environmental activism within China’s decentralized political structure. Anti-incinerator protests in Beijing and Guangzhou are used to illustrate the emergence of public participation in municipal policymaking on waste management. The Beijing and Guangzhou governments’ different attitudes and responses to citizens’ grievances are analysed, particularly in light of a new public-consultative waste management mechanism implemented in Guangzhou, the Guangzhou Public Consultation and Supervision Committee for Urban Waste Management (广州市城市废弃物处理公众咨询监督委员会). Changes in policies on waste management and disposal are examined through documentary analysis and in-depth interviews with stakeholders involved in anti-incinerator protests. The main goal here is to demonstrate that policy change is not only determined by protest outcomes, but that it is also greatly affected by the responses of local governments and actors within a framework of advocacy coalition. This study throws new light on Chinese policymaking on environmental issues and it re-appraises studies of environmental management in China.