Disasters and Development in East Asian Regionalism in the Anthropocene

Publications and Activities

JOURNAL ARTICLE: Carl Middleton, Takeshi Ito (2020) How transboundary processes connect commons in Japan and Thailand: A relational analysis of global commodity chains and East Asian economic integration Asia Pacific Viewpoint https://doi.org/10.1111/apv.12264

Additional materials

See earlier project “How East Asian regionalism connects ecologies and societies”

Contact

Dr. Takeshi Ito (Sophia University) and Dr. Carl Middleton (Chulalongkorn University) for further details.

This study examines the relationship between disasters and development in East Asian regionalism in the age of Anthropocene. The impacts of disasters ranging from floods and droughts to earthquakes and tsunamis, incur significant economic, social and environmental harms, and put at risk systems of human provisioning, such as for food, energy supply, and transport. This is even more true in a rapidly changing and interconnected world where our everyday life is greatly dependent on things that have been made available through flows of trade, investment, and aid in global supply chains.

This research explores how deepening economic and environmental connectivities in East Asian regionalism relate to causing, preparing for and responding to disasters of various types. Previous studies and policies have largely treated economic, environmental, and disaster governance separately, failing to clarify the interconnected relationship between disasters and development. This reflects the siloed approach to governance, which is often also focused onto human interests without considering people’s changing relationship with the natural world that sustains societies and also needs to be nurtured. 

We ask: “What policy/governance is required to ensure sustainable development and disaster management in the context of regional connectivity?” Conceptually, we draw on World Ecology, the social production of disasters, and environmental justice. By reconceptualizing the co-produced character of economic development, disasters and environment, we aim to rethink how governance systems can be holistically designed and put into practice in a post-Sendai Framework, post-2030 development agenda context. 

The research will consider a range of types of disasters, including floods, droughts, earthquakes and industrial accidents. Local case studies will be undertaken in Cambodia, China, Japan, Myanmar, Taiwan, and Thailand. Regional case studies will also be undertaken, for example on transboundary haze, transboundary water governance, climate change and weather systems, and the role of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre). In doing so, the research aims to be transdisciplinary and contribute to the process of policy design and institution building by collaborating with relevant actors at the local, national, and regional levels.

Project partners:

• Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

• Faculty of Liberal Arts, Sophia University