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Saving the Environment by Being “Green” with Fintech: The contradictions between environmentalism and reality in the case of Ant Forest

Zeng, Zhen (2018) ACET35
Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University
Abstract
The conflict between climate and economic development is one of the most significant dilemmas of this era. Under the prevalent discourse of sustainable development and green economy, many believe that environmental problems can be addressed through market-based approaches under the current capitalist economic regime (Waters, 2008). The purpose of this thesis was to analyze the case of Ant Forest, a gamified green initiative launched by the biggest fintech company of China, of which the aim was claimed to be combating climate change through cultivating green lifestyle of the users. By conducting semi-structured interviews with the users from two Chinese cities, it was found that there was an inconsistency between the environmental value of... (More)
The conflict between climate and economic development is one of the most significant dilemmas of this era. Under the prevalent discourse of sustainable development and green economy, many believe that environmental problems can be addressed through market-based approaches under the current capitalist economic regime (Waters, 2008). The purpose of this thesis was to analyze the case of Ant Forest, a gamified green initiative launched by the biggest fintech company of China, of which the aim was claimed to be combating climate change through cultivating green lifestyle of the users. By conducting semi-structured interviews with the users from two Chinese cities, it was found that there was an inconsistency between the environmental value of Ant Forest and the real impacts it posed on the participants’ consumptive behaviours. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Zeng, Zhen
supervisor
organization
course
ACET35
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
environment, green capitalism, fintech, Ant Forest, Marxist critiques
language
English
id
8960186
date added to LUP
2018-10-12 11:15:29
date last changed
2018-10-12 11:15:29
@misc{8960186,
  abstract     = {{The conflict between climate and economic development is one of the most significant dilemmas of this era. Under the prevalent discourse of sustainable development and green economy, many believe that environmental problems can be addressed through market-based approaches under the current capitalist economic regime (Waters, 2008). The purpose of this thesis was to analyze the case of Ant Forest, a gamified green initiative launched by the biggest fintech company of China, of which the aim was claimed to be combating climate change through cultivating green lifestyle of the users. By conducting semi-structured interviews with the users from two Chinese cities, it was found that there was an inconsistency between the environmental value of Ant Forest and the real impacts it posed on the participants’ consumptive behaviours.}},
  author       = {{Zeng, Zhen}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Saving the Environment by Being “Green” with Fintech: The contradictions between environmentalism and reality in the case of Ant Forest}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}