Dr Mingzhe Zhu
- Lecturer in Just Transition (School of Law)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3986-0027Biography
Mingzhe Zhu is a legal theorist and historian who works on the role of law in social and environmental changes from historical, empirical, and theoretical perspectives. After completing a double bachelor's degree in law and public administration at China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), he turned to legal theory and focused on the laicisation of legal thoughts for his LLM at the same university that he always holds dear. He defended his doctoral dissertation on the transformations of French civil law doctrine in the 19th and 20th centuries at Sciences Po (2015).
Authors of more than 50 journal articles and book sections in Chinese, English, and French, Mingzhe publishes in various domains including legal theory, legal history, civil law, constitutional law, and environmental law. Inspired by the Paris Climate Conference, Mingzhe began to explore the social and environmental impacts of modern law and legal thoughts in different historical and spatial contexts. His comparative studies of climate change litigation were considered by China's Supreme Court and cited in international media. Mingzhe is currently working on legal and institutional changes in the Anthropocene.
Prior to his appointment at the University of Glasgow, he was Qian Duansheng Distinguished Associate Professor at CUPL (2018-2023) and held a Senior Research Fellowship at the University of Antwerp (2020-2023). He has also held visiting positions in France, Italy, Poland, Croatia, and the United States.
Research interests
Mingzhe’s research focuses on the links between political authority, science, and nature in the Anthropocene, with particular attention to challenging State violence and extractivist capitalism. Integrating radical political ecology in legal studies, he is committed to identifying the root causes of contemporary social and environmental disasters and exploring the transformations of law in the pursuit of a more sustainable future.
Current research agendas:
-Conceptualising just transition
-Legal and epistemological authority in environmental governance
Previous projects:
China: A (not so) Gentle Ecological Civiliser
Using ethnographic methods, this project critically examines how Eco-civilisation (EC) and its socio-legal structure function as mechanisms of knowledge and power. It argues that EC operates as a project of cognitive and socio-political transformation, imposing a homogenous view of sustainability by creating a distinction between the “ecologically civilised,” “uncivilised,” and “civilisers”.
Making Sense of the Struggles for Equity in Energy Transitions
This project engages with studies on equitable climate policy and aims to reveal experiences within energy transitioning and the meaning given by actors to the deeds of their struggles. It compares two failing transition-policy: the 2018 carbon-tax augmentation in France and the 2017 coal ban in China. The dynamics of these projects illustrate two approaches to adjusting the management of social and emission inequality by law.
Grand Tour of French Law and Legal Thoughts in China (1877-1952)
This project provides a detailed investigation of legal transplant that highlights the strategic interactions of actors involved in foreign law reception and legal modernisation.
Publications
Selected publications
Zhu, M. and Gao, J. (2024) Human rights approach to climate change litigation and its limits. In: Zhang, W. and Liu, H. (eds.) Chinese Yearbook of Human Rights. Brill: Leiden, pp. 137-162. ISBN 9789004697362 (doi: 10.1163/9789004697362_007)
Zhu, M. and Fan, L. (2024) A comparative study of the judicial construction of scientific credibility in climate litigation. Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law, 33(2), pp. 250-264. (doi: 10.1111/reel.12542)
Zhu, M. (2023) Climate litigation in a ‘developmental state’: the case of China. Chinese Journal of Environmental Law, 7(2), pp. 200-213. (doi: 10.1163/24686042-12340105)
Zhu, M. (2022) Biodiversity litigation in China: confronting degradation from all sides in the era of ecological civilization. In: Futhazar, G., Maljean-Dubois, S. and Razzaque, J. (eds.) Biodiversity Litigation. Oxford University Press, pp. 119-145. ISBN 9780192865465 (doi: 10.1093/oso/9780192865465.003.0005)
Zhu, M. (2022) The rule of climate policy: how do Chinese judges contribute to climate governance without climate law? Transnational Environmental Law, 11(1), pp. 119-139. (doi: 10.1017/S2047102521000212)
Zhu, M. (2022) On the judicial power's role in climate governance: an observation from the perspective of comparative law. Political Science and Law,
Zhu, M. (2021) 法典化模式选择的法理辨析 = A Legal Analysis on the Selection of Codification Model. 法制与社会发展(1), pp. 89-112.
All publications
Grants
University of Ottawa Visiting Researcher Grant (3,500 euros, 2025)
Natural Resources Defense Council Research Fund (6,000 euros, 2024)
Foundation-Flanders (191,000 euros, 2020-2023)
Make Our Planet Great Again (30,000 euros, rewarded but declined due to other commitments)
Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange Grant (3,400 euros, 2019)
CUPL Advanced Research Grant （28,000 euros, 2018-2023)
Chinese Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (28,000 euros, 2017-2020)
CUPL research Starting Grant (4,000 euros, 2016)
Chinese Scholarship Council Doctoral Scholarship (58,000 euros, 2011-2015)
Supervision
Mingzhe welcomes enquiries from prospective research students interested in law and environmental governance, climate law, critical legal theory, and more broadly, comparative legal culture.
Ms Liyuan Fan (CUPL & Aix-Marseille University): The Co-production of Scientific and Judicial Authorities in Climate Litigation
Mr Jakub Zwierzchowski (Co-supervisor, University of Silesia): Sustainability in Private Law
Mr Hans Eyong (Co-supervisor, University of Silesia): African Regional Integration
Additional information
Mingzhe is the Chief Editor of the Law and Culture Series at the Commercial Press. He is also editorial board member of several peer-reviewed journals.
Prizes & Awards
Award of Research Excellence, CUPL
Qian Duansheng Distinguished Young Scholar Award
Most Inspiring Teachers, CUPL
Sun Guohua Award for Philosophy of Law, China Law Society
Lecturer of the Year, CUPL
First Award for Comparative Law, China Law Society
Learned Societies
Secretary General, Chinese branch of the Association Henri-Capitant
Adjunct Secretary General, Chinese Society of Comparative Law
