Date of Award

Spring 5-8-2024

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Environmental Studies

Advisor(s)

John Van Buren

Second Advisor

Yiju Huang

Abstract

Can we really save the world with trees, solar panels, and ‘net zero’ sustainable business? These are the mainstream solutions proposed by powerful actors–however these are largely false ‘Natural’ solutions that embrace greenwashing and ignore environmental justice. The rhetoric of ‘Nature’ has led to the violation of indigenous sovereignty and urban green gentrification in the name of ‘Conservation’ and carbon offsets. But what does ‘Natural’ truly mean, what is at stake when we use the word, and what does it mean for humanity? Through interviews and public observations in Flushing, Queens I learned how the Chinese diaspora naturalizes the city through the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine and how these practices can create the political and cultural will to change in light of the climate crisis. This paper explores what their knowledge has to offer in the fight for our planet and for urban environmental justice. Chapter 1 explores the impacts on marginalized people of false solutions for the climate crisis and why they are in-fact false solutions. Chapter 2 analyzes the sociological and political context of why these false solutions are pioneering the mainstream narrative of climate solutions. Chapter 3 discusses the theory of Chinese medicine as well as the history of it in the United States. It also dives into my study of the naturalizing practice of the Chinese diaspora in the city. Chapter 4 unveils the environmental injustice in Flushing and how the diaspora ‘practices’ nature. Chapter 5 outlines how the natural practice of Chinese medicine can create the political will needed to address the root issues of climate change.

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