This volume paints a general picture of the environmental situation in Asia, backing it up with several case studies. Two major points are made in this general picture. The first is that environmental campaigns in Asia tend to have a local focus; they react to very concrete problems in the immediate neighbourhood and as such usually people are engaged in a cause for practical rather than idealistic reasons. Such can be seen in case studies from the volume dealing with campaigns against logging and tree plantations, tourist facilities and factories and in support or defence of nature reserves. This pattern is in marked contrast to the profile of the most successful Western movements (in terms of fund-raising at least) for whom the focus is on perceived problems in distant parts of the world. The second point is evidence in several of the case studies in the volume, namely that environmental campaigns cannot be understood in terms of environmental issues alone. Rather, they should be regarded as a form of cultural critique and frequently are a form of political resistance in situations where open political action is too risky.

"This collection provides a powerful and sophisticated analysis of how environmental movements influence politics in Asia, and how politics influences movements." -- John S. Dryzek, Centenary Professor, University of Canberra "This important book reflects the challenges and questions currently foremost in scholars', activists' and policy-makers' minds-the Anthropocene, environmental justice, China's Belt and Road Initiative, and post-politics-all addressed through the lens of environmental movements in Asia. -- Jonathan Rigg, Professor at the School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol "How have authoritarianism, democratization and political change affected environmentalism in East and Southeast Asia? How have environmental mobilization and demands for environmental justice at the grassroots influenced politics there? These are among the vital questions answered by this insightful and well-crafted volume." --Paul G. Harris, Chair Professor of Global and Environmental Studies, Education University of Hong Kong "This book shows convincingly that the concept of Anthropocene is as relevant in Asia as anywhere." -- Philip Hirsch, Emeritus Professor of Human Geography, University of Sydney "Despite its claims to universality, the Anthropocene concept remains largely a Western phenomenon. This book is crucial in correcting this view by putting environmental movements in Asia center stage." -- Eva Horn, Professor of Literature and Cultural History, University of Vienna

Since in the current global environmental and climate crisis East Asia will play a major role in negotiating solutions, it is vital to understand East Asian cultural variations in approaching and solving environmental challenges in the past, present, and future. The interdisciplinary volume Nature, Environment and Culture in East Asia. The Challenge of Climate Change, edited by Carmen Meinert, explores how cultural patterns and ideas have shaped a specific understanding of nature, how local and regional cultures develop(ed) coping strategies to adapt to environmental and climatic changes in the past and in the present and how various institutions and representatives might introduce their ideas and agendas in future environmental and climate policies on national levels and in international negotiating systems.

Adopting a comparative perspective, this book traces the social, political, economic and cultural conditions under which environmental movements have emerged, and assesses the transformative capacities of these movements.

The environment is one of the defining issues of our times, and it is closely linked to questions and dilemmas surrounding economic development. Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most economically and demographically dynamic regions, and it is also one in which a host of environmental issues raise themselves. The Routledge Handbook of the Environment in Southeast Asia is a collection of 30 chapters dealing with the most significant scholarly debates in this rapidly growing field of study. Structured in four main parts, it gives a comprehensive regional overview of, and insight into, the environment in Southeast Asia. Wide-ranging and balanced, this handbook promotes scholarly understanding of how environmental issues are dealt with from diverse theoretical perspectives. It offers a detailed empirical understanding of the myriad environmental problems and challenges faced in Southeast Asia. This is the first publication of its kind in this field; a helpful companion for a global audience and for scholars of Southeast Asian studies from a variety of disciplines.

Comparing Taiwan and South Korea strategically, Hwa-Jen Liu seeks an answer to a deceptively simple question: Why do social movements appear at different times in a nation’s development? Despite their apparent resemblance—a colonial heritage, authoritarian rule, rapid industrialization, and structural similarities—Taiwan and South Korea were opposites in their experiences with two key social movements. South Korea followed a conventional capitalist route: labor movements challenged the system long before environmental movements did. In Taiwan, pro-environment struggles gained strength before labor activism. Liu argues that part of the explanation lies in an analysis of how movements advance their causes by utilizing different types of power. Whereas labor movements have the power of economic leverage, environmental movements depend on the power of ideology. Therefore, examining material factors versus ideational factors is crucial to understanding the successes (or failures) of social movements. Leverage of the Weak is a significant contribution to the literature on social movements, to the study of East Asian political economies, and to the progress of the comparative-historical method. It enhances knowledge of movement emergence, investigates the possibilities and obstacles involved in forging labor–environment alliances, and offers the first systematic, multilayered comparisons across movements and nations in East Asia.

The dramatic transformation of our planet by human actions has been heralded as the coming of the new epoch of the Anthropocene. Human relations with water raise some of the most urgent questions in this regard. The starting point of this book is that these changes should not be seen as the result of monolithic actions of an undifferentiated humanity, but as emerging from diverse ways of relating to water in a variety of settings and knowledge systems. With its large population and rapid demographic and socioeconomic change, Asia provides an ideal context for examining how varied forms of knowledge pertaining to water encounter and intermingle with one another. While it is difficult to carry out comprehensive research on water knowledge in Asia due to its linguistic, political and cultural fragmentation, the topic nevertheless has relevance across boundaries. By using a carefully chosen selection of case studies in a variety of locations and across diverse disciplines, the book demonstrates commonalities and differences in everyday water practices around Asia while challenging both romantic presumptions and Eurocentrism. Examples presented include class differences in water use in the megacity of Delhi, India; the impact of radiation on water practices in Fukushima, Japan; the role of the King in hydraulic practices in Thailand, and ritual irrigation in Bali, Indonesia.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is expected to be the largest infrastructure development scheme of the twenty-first century. There is escalating concern over BRI’s potential environmental impacts in Southeast Asia, a global biodiversity hotspot and a focus area of BRI development. Case studies of Indonesia, Myanmar, Lao PDR and Malaysia show that the success of BRI in bringing about sustainable growth and opportunities depends on the Chinese government and financiers, as well as the agencies and governments involved when BRI investments take place. The adoption of best environmental practices is critical in ensuring that growth is sustainable and that bad environmental practices are not locked in for decades to come.

Introduction : the evolution of the East Asian eco-developmental state / Mary Alice Haddad, Stevan Harrell -- East Asian environmental advocacy / Mary Alice Haddad -- China's low-carbon energy strategy / Joanna Lewis -- Energy and climate change policies of Japan and South Korea / Eunjung Lim -- The politics of pollution emissions trading in China / Iza Ding -- Legal experts and environmental rights in Japan / Simon Avenell -- Local energy initiatives in Japan / Noriko Sakamoto -- Indigenous conservation and post-disaster reconstruction in Taiwan / Sasala Taiban, Hui-nien Lin,Kurtis Jia-chyi Pei, Dau-jye Lu, Hwa-sheng Gau -- Nature for nurture in urban Chinese childrearing / Rob Efird -- Sustainability of Korea's first "New Village" / Chung Ho Kim -- Environmentalism in China's Chengdu Plain / Daniel Benjamin Abramson -- Environmental activism in Kaohsiung, Taiwan / Hua-mei Chiu -- Indigenous attitudes toward nuclear waste in Taiwan / Hsi-wen Chang -- The battle over GMOs in Korea and Japan / Yves Tiberghien -- Grassroots NGOs and environmental activism in China / Jingyun Dai, Anthony Spires -- The eco-developmental state and the environmental Kuznets curve / Stevan Harrell.

This volume discusses environmental change, natural resource exploitation and the prospect for ecological sustainability in Southeast Asia. The contributors including sociologists, geographers, anthropologists, economists, political economists and historians, presents the findings of recent archival and field research mainly from ongoing programmes of team research based in European universities and institutes. Among the themes discussed are European and indigenous perceptions of the environment; historical processes of environmental change; the politics of resource use; ecotourism and development; deforestation and smallholding land-use strategies; migration and environmental degradation; disease environment and human geography; demography, sustainability and resource exploitation.