Virginie ARANTES

Bio

Virginie Arantes earned her Ph.D. in political science from the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and currently serves as a postdoctoral researcher supported by the National Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.-FNRS) at the Center for the Study of Political Life (CEVIPOL) as well as the Center for Research in International Political Studies (REPI). While her earlier work concentrated on China’s environmental governance, she has since broadened her research scope to investigate the influence of green nationalism on the shaping of national identity within the context of Southeast Asian geopolitics. This research sheds light on regional variations and delves into an aspect of green nationalism that has received limited attention outside of Europe.
 

CV
 

• 10/2023 – Ongoing
  F.R.S-FNRS Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre de Recherche et Études en Politique Internationale (REPI), Centre d’étude de la vie politique (CEVIPOL) and Centre de recherche sur l’Asie de l’Est (EASt), Université libre de Bruxelles. (Full-time: 100%)
  Research Project Title: (Re)imagining the nation in the age of the Anthropocene: A comparative study of "green nationalism" in China, Singapore, and Taiwan.
   
• 11/2021 – 09/2023
  Wiener-Anspach & Wolfson College Research Fellow, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. (Full-time: 100%)
   
• 10/2020 – 09/2021
  ARC Postdoctoral Researcher at EASt, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium. (Full-time: 100%)
  Communication and project management of the project “GENEsYs” on East Asian Youth.
   
• 05/2020 – 09/2020
  F.R.S-FNRS Postdoctoral Fellow, ULB, Belgique. (Full-time: 100%)
   
• 02/2016 – 04/2020
  F.R.S-FNRS Research Fellow, ULB, Belgique. (Full-time: 100%)
  Dissertation title: From the avoidable to the desirable: the Chinese Communist Party “green” authoritarian strategy. Shanghai as Case Study. Obtained 24 April 2024.

Areas of research

• Environmental politics
   
• Governance and ideologies
   
• State-society relations
   
• Urban life
   
• Nationalism
   
• Geopolitics of East and Southeast Asia

Teaching

• 2019 – 2020: Part-time lecturer at Sciences Po Lille, Environment, Development, and International Relations (Master's - 2nd Cycle) 2018 – 2020: Thesis Preparation Seminar, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
   
• 2017 – Ongoing: Master’s Thesis Supervision
   
• 2017 – 2019: Teaching Assistant, François Gemenne Bernheim Chair on Peace and Citizenship, Environment, Resources, and Conflict: Mapping Controversies (Master's - 2nd Cycle)

Research

My research areas are divided into three main themes, with a regional focus on East and Southeast Asia:

Societal transitions towards sustainability Co-production of environmental imaginaries Socio-economic and environmental dynamics

My postdoctoral research, started in late 2023, examines how environmental narratives reinforce regional identity and legitimacy in Chinese-speaking regions—mainland China, Singapore, and Taiwan. It explores the use of "green nationalism" across different political systems to redefine identities and gain international recognition, aiming to provide new insights beyond the Eurocentric focus of existing eco-nationalism studies.

These three research axes complement each other to provide a holistic view of the challenges and opportunities associated with the transition towards sustainability, emphasizing both socio-economic and environmental aspects, as well as the cultural and geopolitical dimensions of ecological transition processes at various scales: macro, meso, and micro. This integrated approach allows for the exploration of the complex interactions between economic, social, environmental, and political dimensions (particularly in authoritarian contexts), thus offering a critical analysis of sustainability issues in a constantly evolving global context.

Publications

Arantes, V. (2024). Territorial dynamics and deepening autocratization: exploring the role of gated communities in Shanghai’s COVID-19 response. Contemporary Politics, 1–21. Di-fusion

Arantes, V. (2022), China’s Green Consensus: Participation, Co-optation and Legitimation. Routledge. Di-fusion

Arantes, V., (2023) “Towards a Green Nationalism with Chinese Characteristics”, Journal of Contemporary China. Di-fusion.

Arantes, V.; Zou, C. & Yue, C., (2019) “Coping with waste: towards a new government-NGO collaborative model in Shanghai?”, Journal of Environmental Management. Di-fusion