November 5th 2023 (Sunday)

Regular Session 11~14 + Japanese Session

Panel Discussion:

Environmental Victims' Movements
in East Asia: Their significance and challenges

Regions and countries in East Asia have some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but industrial pollution and large-scale infrastructure construction have caused serious damage to the environment and local people. Those people whose lives and livelihoods have been threatened by such corporate activities and national projects are often politically and economically less powerful and socially vulnerable; many are ordinary people who just want a peaceful life. However, in the face of these threats to their lives, health, and livelihoods, they have been compelled to act. In this way, many social movements have emerged. The goals of these grassroots movements are varied. In some cases, for example, people have protested such corporate activities, as well as national projects while others have sought compensation from corporations and governments.

In this panel discussion, we focus on these social movements that have been developed by the victims of environmentally harmful corporate activities and national projects.

These environmental victims’ movements address a wide range of issues such as industrial pollution; chemical injury (e.g., drug-induced diseases); infrastructure projects (e.g., land reclamation, river ‘improvements’, dam construction); and the construction of nuisance facilities (e.g., military base construction, landfill sites, nuclear power plants).

In this panel session, we discuss the following points: What ideas and thoughts have been created and expressed through the movements in each country and region?; How do these ideas and thoughts relate to Western environmental justice debates?; What is the contemporary significance of these ideas and thoughts?; What and how should we learn and inherit from these movements when pollution issues are often dismissed as past events?; How should we pass on the lessons from these movements to other parts of the world?; What can environmental sociology in East Asia offer to the development of environmental sociological theories on a global scale?

We hope this session provides an opportunity to clarify the significance of the ideas and thoughts of environmental victims’ movements in East Asia, and to critically analyze the challenges facing the next generations in inheriting the lessons from these movements.

Speakers:
Yuuki Tomozawa (Nagasaki University)
Sanghun Lee (Hanshin University)
Kuei-Tien Chou (National Taiwan University) & Hwa-Meei Liou (National Taiwan University of Science & Technology)
Yulin Zhang (Nanjing University)

Discussants:
Paul Jobin (Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica)
Catherine Mei Ling Wong (University of Amsterdam)
Ryoichi Terada (Meiji University)

Moderator:
Saburo Horikawa (Hosei University)

Closing Remarks

November 6th 2023 (Monday) from 8:30 to 17:00

[or from 8:30 to 11:00 if you are only participating in the morning]

Excursion: Yokohama to Tokyo study cruise & Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall

Fee: 5,500 yen per person (including bus, entrance to the exhibition hall, lunch, and drinks)
(or 3,000 yen per person only for the morning study cruise: no lunch included)
(The capacity of the bus and the boat is limited, so please express your interest early to secure your place.
Once confirmed, we will send you an email to ask you to pay the fee online)

This ISESEA-9 excursion brings you two memorable learning experiences of Yokohama, Tokyo and Japan. Related to the theme of the ISESEA-9 panel discussion, the excursion explores social changes created by pollution and coastal development in Japan, which resonate with the experiences of various East Asian communities. We look forward to exploring these sites with you and continuing the exchange of ideas in a relaxed atmosphere.

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[from 8:30 to 11:00]

Firstly, the participants will experience the “Yokohama to Tokyo 2-hour study cruise” on waste disposal and coastal development. The route has been especially curated for the ISESEA participants, thanks to the Keihin Ferry company, which is providing a 4-year-old clean and spacious cruise boat with an open deck. The conference venue at Kanto Gakuin University is set amid scenery as depicted in Hiroshige’s “Ukiyoe,” Japanese traditional block paintings (Kanazawa Hyakkei). Excursion participants will experience how the city has changed since then. The excursion explores the issues of municipal waste; the history of Yumenoshima (“Dream Island”), a manmade island created by waste; and destruction of fishing communities, as well as how people in Yokohama and Tokyo currently enjoy and utilize the coastal areas.

The ISESEA organizing committee members will share short videos and talks on board to provide background information while participants enjoy the views and the sea breeze en route to the Hinode pier in the Tokyo Bay.

[It is possible for excursion participants to apply only for this morning part of the cruise. Please indicate if you wish to do this. The morning excursion group finishes at Hinode Pier. Please then take the 15-minute walk to Hamamatsucho Station to continue your own journey.]

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[from 11:00 to 17:00]

After lunch at the Yumenoshima “Dream Island” Marina, we visit the Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall. Daigo Fukuryu Maru was damaged by the hydrogen bomb test conducted by the United States on March 1, 1954 at Bikini Atoll, the Marshall Islands in the Pacific. After exposure to the H-bomb test, the boat was reconstructed as a practice vessel for the Tokyo University of Fisheries and was finally retired from service in 1967. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government constructed this exhibition hall in order to spread knowledge, not only about wooden vessels used in deep-sea fishing but also to raise awareness so that the tragedy caused by atomic and hydrogen bombs will not be repeated. The ISESEA-9 organizing committee members and the Exhibition Hall curator will talk about one of the most long-lasting environmental contaminators – radiation.The Exhibition Hall will be opened exclusively for the ISESEA excursion participants on the day (it is usually closed on Mondays). Its curator will give us a special tour with plenty of time for Q&As and discussion among participants to consider how this learning can be linked to our future work and environmental sociology in East Asia.

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