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Based on the data from the 13-month field visit spread over two trips (September 2016 to December 2016 and September 2017 to July 2018), this study highlights how securitisation efforts from the central government interact with environmental non-governmental organisation (ENGO) activism and advocacy in China, producing diverse outcomes across temporal and spatial dimensions. The trajectory of state–society relations in the context of environmental governance depends on (a) the ability of party-state to control 'new media' activism and manage ENGO advocacy to 'maintain stability/rule by law' and (b) ability of the assemblage of media activism and ENGO advocacy, along with other agents, to support the transition from 'rule by law' to 'rule of law'. The overall findings are discussed in the context of the 'Copenhagen School' framework in International Relations Theory to examine the process of securitisation in the environmental sector in China. The securitising actor (the one who leads the process of securitisation such as States), referent object (the object under existential threat, i.e. human nature harmony) and functional actors (those who support or oppose the process of securitisation, i.e. ENGOs) are the major players involved.

AbstractEmerging environmental challenges continuously push against the theoretical and methodological borders of the International Relations discipline, in terms of new understandings about agency‐structure dynamics and state behavior. A comparative analysis of non‐Western polities such as India and China bring forth interesting observations regarding state praxis in dealing with the above‐mentioned challenges. This study assesses environmentalNIMBY(Not In My Backyard) protests in Xiamen, China using fieldwork observations from September 2016 to December 2016 and September 2017 to July 2018 and undertakes a comparison with a major protest movement in Tamil Nadu, India. (NIMBY stands for Not In My Backyard. NIMBY protests denote the objection of local citizens to the installation of environmentally hazardous projects in their vicinity.) The comparative assessment of protests in both countries reveals that despite dissimilarities in political cultures, new media advocacy and Environmental Nongovernmental Organizations (ENGOs) are the key factors directly responsible for facilitating public participation in environmental policy‐making in both countries. It also suggests that comparative analyses can unravel similarities among the interaction among social institutions in dealing with issues such as environmental threats across spatial and temporal dimensions. The study is based on a discursive analysis of technical study reports, media reporting, and extensive interviews and fieldwork observations.

The environmental sector is an interesting realm in Chinese politics to observe factors such as the contributions of new media activism in bottom-up communication and decision-making processes, especially during the 40 years of reform and opening up. Top-down efforts to curb environmental issues are primarily to address increasing pubic discomfort due to pollution and related problems. However, environmental movements are increasingly visible in China despite their application of stability maintenance mechanisms such as Environmental Police. It is therefore noteworthy to deeply analyse the factors that contribute to the increasing scale of movements in the country. This study examines the role of new media activism (occurring due to the public's interactions through WeChat, Weibo, QQ, etc.) in shaping the trajectory of environmental movements in China. How are these avenues supporting alternative communication channels outside the mainstream policy making apparatus? Is the government willing to incorporate the interests developed in these channels to policymaking realms? How these behavioural changes are influencing the state–society relations in contemporary China in the context of increasing environmental concerns. The study employs agency-structure framework to analyse the interactions between new media activism and the single party ruling political structure with the support fieldwork data from China. The study examines policy documents, official declarations of the communist party, public attitude towards new media activism, and so on, in order to present a comprehensive understanding on the politics of ecology in the PRC.

<p>The extant literature provides evidence that gang involvement increases and individuals propensity to perpetrate antisocial behavior. Furthermore, it has been empirically support that criminal involvement increases and individuals like-hood of experiencing victimization. Antisocial personality disorder is described as engaging in aggressive behavior that is socially unacceptable; irresponsible, impulsive behavior; merged with impaired ability to empathize with victims; indifference to social norms, and frequent substance abuse (Cox, Edens, Magyar, &amp; Lilienfeld, 2013; Lilienfeld &amp; Arkowitz, 2007). Therefore, it is logical to deduce that gang affiliation also increases the probability of victimization amongst juveniles, which has been supported by by several authors. Furthermore, considering the symptomology associated with conduct disorder and operational defiant disorder it is probable that gang membership and victimization may have a critical role in the externalization of this psychological disorders symptoms. To examine this question we utilize data gathered by the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T) program which consists of (N=5,935) eight grade students from 42 different schools. These schools are located in: Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. The metropolitan regions the subjects reside during the data collection period are: Omaha, Las Cruces, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Torrance, Orlando, Pocatello, Will County, Kansas City, Providence, and Milwaukee. The results, limitations, and implications of the study will be discussed later.</p>