A Cosmopolitan Approach to Transboundary Risk Governance in East Asia
Journal
Journal of Asian Sociology
Journal Volume
51
Journal Issue
3
Date Issued
2022-09-01
Author(s)
Abstract
This paper points out that while genetically modified organisms (GMOs), bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and the Fukushima nuclear disaster that respectively occurred in the three East Asian countries of Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, resulted in the emergence of compulsory cosmopolitanism, from the perspective of cross-border and transnational action. Although these countries all have full social movements domestically, a failure to develop connections between their organizations has resulted in these countries not yet seeing the emergence of cosmopolitan risk collectivities and a regional risk community. The authors explain that these countries have a common historical background of authoritarian politics, with all three possessing the structural factors of expert politics, scientific hegemony, and economic developmentalism. Such conditions formulate the hidden ignorance of risk and stagnates transformation. Therefore, not only are we yet to see any transnational connections between the NGOs in East Asia but there is also an emerging “hung risk governance.”
Subjects
Cosmopolitanism | East asia | Embedding the regional | Risk governance | Transboundary risk
Type
journal article