Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Encountering Seaweed: Life In and Beyond Macroalgae Farming Through Lived Experience of Farmers in Shandong and Fujian, China

Meng, Xiaoxuan LU (2025) HEKM51 20251
Department of Human Geography
Human Ecology
Abstract
In the past few years, macroalgae farming has surged in popularity on a global scale as a potential major contributor to carbon dioxide removal. As the world’s biggest producer of seaweed, China has actively engaged in this global effort to develop macroalgae farming as a nature-based climate solution. Amid this global enthusiasm, however, is a lack of attention to the local living worlds. This study focused on two major farming regions in China, and adopted a feminist approach to ground the study in perceptions and experiences of coastal villagers. Data were collected mainly through ethnographic interviews, complemented by village visits and document research, and the analysis was guided by Braun & Clark’s Reflexive Thematic Analysis. The... (More)
In the past few years, macroalgae farming has surged in popularity on a global scale as a potential major contributor to carbon dioxide removal. As the world’s biggest producer of seaweed, China has actively engaged in this global effort to develop macroalgae farming as a nature-based climate solution. Amid this global enthusiasm, however, is a lack of attention to the local living worlds. This study focused on two major farming regions in China, and adopted a feminist approach to ground the study in perceptions and experiences of coastal villagers. Data were collected mainly through ethnographic interviews, complemented by village visits and document research, and the analysis was guided by Braun & Clark’s Reflexive Thematic Analysis. The findings suggest that villagers’ experience and sense-making of farming, ways of life and environments are deeply intertwined with both more-than-human dynamics and social constructs. For generations, villagers have embodied responsive coexistence with nonhumans and built ecological knowledge relationally; nevertheless, these engagements are increasingly undermined by power-laden social constructs within and beyond China. By identifying risks of naturalizing hegemonic social constructs and disembedding the economy and the environmental functions from social and ecological relations, this research emphasizes that the meanings and consequences of seaweed farming as a climate mitigation strategy cannot be fully understood without attention to the everyday contexts in which it unfolds. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Meng, Xiaoxuan LU
supervisor
organization
course
HEKM51 20251
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
macroalgae farming, climate mitigation, nature-based solutions, carbon dioxide removal, human-nature relations, multispecies becoming-with, the symbolic order, market society
language
English
id
9210080
date added to LUP
2025-09-26 08:24:22
date last changed
2025-09-26 08:24:22
@misc{9210080,
  abstract     = {{In the past few years, macroalgae farming has surged in popularity on a global scale as a potential major contributor to carbon dioxide removal. As the world’s biggest producer of seaweed, China has actively engaged in this global effort to develop macroalgae farming as a nature-based climate solution. Amid this global enthusiasm, however, is a lack of attention to the local living worlds. This study focused on two major farming regions in China, and adopted a feminist approach to ground the study in perceptions and experiences of coastal villagers. Data were collected mainly through ethnographic interviews, complemented by village visits and document research, and the analysis was guided by Braun & Clark’s Reflexive Thematic Analysis. The findings suggest that villagers’ experience and sense-making of farming, ways of life and environments are deeply intertwined with both more-than-human dynamics and social constructs. For generations, villagers have embodied responsive coexistence with nonhumans and built ecological knowledge relationally; nevertheless, these engagements are increasingly undermined by power-laden social constructs within and beyond China. By identifying risks of naturalizing hegemonic social constructs and disembedding the economy and the environmental functions from social and ecological relations, this research emphasizes that the meanings and consequences of seaweed farming as a climate mitigation strategy cannot be fully understood without attention to the everyday contexts in which it unfolds.}},
  author       = {{Meng, Xiaoxuan}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Encountering Seaweed: Life In and Beyond Macroalgae Farming Through Lived Experience of Farmers in Shandong and Fujian, China}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}