Fellows Program on Peace, Governance, and Development in East Asia

Abstract

This paper focuses on territorial disputes related civic activism in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. After the end of the Cold War bipolar rivalry, territorial disputes became one of the major sources of friction in the region. Civil society groups are playing an increasingly important role in shaping both discourses and policies related to these disputes in their respective countries. The extant academic literature traces this activism to nationalism directed at the other party to the dispute. Drawing its theoretical insights from the Ontological Security approach, this paper seeks to provide a more nuanced understanding of this activism.

Quotes from the Paper

"The end of the Asia-Pacific War and subsequent Cold War related events such as the division of the Korean Peninsula, the KMT-CCP rivalry and the incorporation of Japan into Pax Americana had profound effects on the national identity constructs in Northeast Asia. The various contradictions that can be traced to these effects manifested themselves in different “critical situations” leading to loss of ontological security."

"In sociology, ontological security, which is seen as a prerequisite for agency, refers to stability, or continuity, in the self-identity of an individual and her social and material environments. It is the predictability of the outside world and the trust in other people that provide an individual with a sense of safety and stability. The International Relations (IR) ontological security approach construes the international as a social realm and can be located within the constructivist branch of IR theory. It extrapolates the argument made by sociologists that individuals seek not only physical, but also ontological security, to the state level."

"This paper argued that territorial disputes activism in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan is not necessarily related to nationalism directed at the other party to the dispute. While the activists do mobilize negative images of the "other" in their campaigns, the narratives promoted by them address broader structural ontological issues that can be traced to the Cold War structure."

Author

Dr. Alexander Bukh is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations. Alexander was born in Moscow, grew up in Israel and spent over 20 years living in Asia (mainly Japan but also Thailand and Korea) before moving to New Zealand in 2012. Prior to his current appointment at Victoria University, he was an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Tsukuba University, Japan. Alexander published numerous articles and book chapters on Japan’s national identity and foreign policy. His first monograph examined the role of Russia in Japan’s identity and foreign policy. Alexander’s current research focuses on territorial disputes in Northeast Asia. This project seeks to explore the role of civil society groups engaged in territorial dispute related activism in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan in shaping their respective state’s foreign policies.