What the study found
The study finds that integrating socio-natural resilience into the analysis of hydrosocial territories helps explain governance transformations in China’s Great Yangtze River Protection Programme. The authors describe hydrosocial territories as spaces where technological, physical, social, and natural relations are integrated, and they argue that their reconfiguration is a political process shaped by power dynamics.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors say this matters because resilience, as they present it, provides an integrated lens for understanding water governance. They also conclude that the study helps show how upstream-downstream interactions are shaped by hydro-hegemonic configurations, meaning unequal power relations over water.
What the researchers tested
The researchers used field data from the Great Yangtze River Protection Programme and combined the concept of socio-natural resilience with hydrosocial territory analysis. They used this approach to interpret governance transformations and to examine absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacities in water governance.
What worked and what didn't
The study says the integrated perspective helps interpret the mechanisms of absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacities in the programme. It also argues that the reconfiguration of hydrosocial territories is tied to the commodification of nature and to tensions between state control and market mechanisms. The abstract does not describe any specific part of the programme that did not work.
What to keep in mind
The summary provided here is limited to the abstract, so detailed methods, evidence, and limitations are not described. The authors’ claims are framed as interpretations of one programme in China, so the scope appears specific to the Great Yangtze River Protection Programme.
Key points
- The study links socio-natural resilience with hydrosocial territory analysis in China’s Great Yangtze River Protection Programme.
- The authors say hydrosocial territory reconfiguration is a political process shaped by power dynamics.
- The paper argues that upstream-downstream interactions are shaped by hydro-hegemonic configurations, meaning unequal power relations over water.
- The integrated perspective is said to help explain absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacities in water governance.
- The abstract does not provide specific limitations or describe anything that failed.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Socio-natural resilience reshapes hydrosocial territories in Yangtze governance
- Authors:
- Jichuan Sheng, Chen Li
- Institutions:
- Hohai University, Nanjing Forestry University, Education University of Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong
- Publication date:
- 2026-03-10
- OpenAlex record:
- View
Get the weekly research newsletter
Stay current with peer-reviewed research without reading academic papers — one filtered digest, every Friday.