讲座预告丨China's Electrification in the Making of the Anthropocene

讲座主题

China’s Electrification in the Making of the Anthropocene

嘉宾简介

Dr. Ying Jia Tan

Associate Professor of History and East Asian Studies

Wesleyan University

Dr. Ying Jia Tan is an Associate Professor of History and East Asian Studies at Wesleyan University. His first book Recharging China in War and Revolution explores the politics of Chinese power consumption as electrical industries developed during seven decades of revolution and warfare. He is currently working on a second project on the history of the plastic industry in Chinese East Asia.

讲座简介

How did the compressed development of China’s electrical infrastructure during a state of perpetual warfare shape the economic growth models of China and its East Asian neighbors? In Recharging China in War and Revolution, 1882-1955, I explore how the electrification of wartime China laid the groundwork for the phenomenal industrial growth that transformed China into a major contributor to the “Great Acceleration” characterizing the Anthropocene. Policymakers and engineers grapple with the predicament of the Anthropocene, as they strive to balance short-term economic gain with long-term political and environmental sustainability. Lessons from the early stages of China’s electrification serve as stark reminders of the vulnerabilities of centralized power networks hastily built on the ruins of war and revolution. In this talk, I will discuss how the history of the electrification of wartime China allows us to fully understand the impact of the Anthropocene on the vulnerability and resilience of Asian populations.

讲座主持

Dr. Zhaojin Zeng

Assistant Professor of History

Duke Kunshan University

The Duke Kunshan Seminar Series on Environment and History is hosted by the Center for the Study of Contemporary China and the Environmental Research Center. 

参与方式

讲座时间：12月2日（周五）上午 9:00-10:30

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