126 Janice Hua Xu
Conclusion: A tentative community
By the end of 2013, an online “Community Air Monitoring” network was formed,
which consisted of measurement data from 13 cities in different parts of China
provided by NGOs and individual volunteers (Xue 2013). According to the
organizer of the network, Liu Jun from the Wuhan branch of Friends of Nature,
while there were more self-testers interested in participation, the issues of data
management, equipment maintenance, and funding sources challenged its further
growth. The Network coexists with a “National Environmental Air Monitoring
Network” that publishes data online issued by the government.
CBM activities in China embody a rich diversity of emerging initiatives
and practices that contribute to the growth of environmental activism and
environmental awareness. To overcome their lack of resources, NGOs draw
public attention to tangible, pragmatic goals that are usually related to the well-
being of local citizens. Thus they establish legitimacy, raise public awareness,
and at the same time strive for support from all possible collaborators (which
at times may include Western environmental groups) to sustain their needs in
terms of financial, technical, manpower, and publicity. While the organization
structures are somewhat fluid, the issue-centered activities can be highly effective
with the persistent and effective coordination and leadership of core members
of the locally based groups. These goals enable the formation of a temporary
collective identity among individuals and groups, dispersed in time and space, to
take collective actions with a definite agenda, circumventing restrictions against
co-presence, such as a street rally, even though online activities might be also
monitored and censored by the authorities to various extents.
In China, grassroots environmentalist activism thus far has demonstrated its
own characteristics, which are related to the cultural heritage and sociopolitical
conditions of the country. Among many Chinese citizens, there is a desire for
a better understanding of the changes to their environment and the risks of
urban pollution and of different levels of interest in participating in collective
activities for a green community. As a successful example of CMB, the air quality
testing activities can be seen as turning citizens’ private lifestyle choices such
as following official air quality reports and choosing low-emission automobiles
into forms of civic action linked to collective awareness raising and information
sharing. NGOs are developing new methods to encourage their online audiences
to take action, turning them from blog followers to volunteers. A fluid green
community is formed as volunteers take both online and offline roles—learning
the skills of using equipment, acquiring pollution data in public places, and
posting information through microblogging to share with netizens. The Internet is
used not only as a mobilization tool for grassroots groups but also as a space for
collectively producing and publishing alternative information.
CBM activities in China also centrally involve the issue of how to manage
relationships with official institutions. For activists, the process of expanding
the movement and building coalitions unavoidably involves negotiating with
public institutions of some sort, such as libraries, universities, news media, or city