China's Ecological Civilization Concept as a Principle of Global Environmental Governance

The most fascinating feature of China's ecological civilization (shengtai wenming) concept is not its goals, which are essentially indistinguishable from the goals of other post-modern visions of sustainable societies, but its explicit embrace of both modern and traditional means as essential for achieving those goals. This feature of the concept highlights a paradox that would be inherent in its implementation as a principle of global environmental governance in societies where a strong rule of law remains aspirational. Fortunately, the ecological civilization concept also seems flexible enough to allow for an implementation strategy with Socratic overtones that would help all societies to learn how to craft blends of both modern and traditional means of building an ecological civilization even in the absence of a strong rule of law.