Speakers: Michael Nylan & Thomas Hahn

Thomas Hahn and Michael Nylan have co-authored an introduction to the messy world that is environmental politics called Environmental Equity in China and Beyond (just published).  Taking China and the United States as their two main foci, they seek to build a four-part case: that (1) Anglo-American legal traditions and the international institutions modeled on Anglo-American presumptions currently hamper every effort to forestall, remediate, and compensate for environmental disasters; (2) environmental equity is not a “Western” concept, but a Chinese one, already ubiquitous during the early empires (323 BC-AD 316) in China; (3) there can be no environmental equity without an embrace of intergenerational equity, accompanied by a jettisoning of a number of philosophical concepts (e.g., humans as “autonomous rational beings”; “agency”; “free will”; and “cost-benefit analysis”); and (4) Xi Jinping’s “ecological civilization” slogan, which heralds a major new direction in Chinese policy, offers both promises and perils to planet Earth.

Hahn and Nylan are currently teaching an undergraduate seminar devoted to this set of allied topics at UC-Berkeley.  In their first public lecture devoted to these themes, Hahn and Nylan hope for lively debate and probing questions from the audience, so that they may refine their insights.

Speakers Bio

Michael Nylan was taught by a number of Sinological giants, including Nathan Sivin, Michael Loewe, and Henry Rosemont, Jr.  Her current work focuses on the political theories and practices of the early empires (323 BC-AD 316), where she finds abundant evidence that the Ancients were “in better shape” than we in the modern world.

Thomas Hahn, trained in Chinese studies, historical geography, and European philosophy, has taught at institutions like Cornell and UC Berkeley, specializing in Chinese environmental planning and urban ecology. Hahn has curated exhibitions and consulted for Chinese cities like Tianjin and Hangzhou.