1,091 research outputs found

    We Are Not Content: Enviornmental Exploitation against Taiwan's Minority Populations

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    The following research paper highlights the projects, policies, and initiatives that negatively impacted Taiwan's indigenous and Hakka populations from early Dutch Colonization and Japanese Occupation to topical conflicts such as ecotourism and sweeping excavation projects. A brief introduction details Taiwanese historiography, its shortcomings, and alternative attempts by scholars to craft a "new" historical narrative that encompasses minority populations beyond established "colonizer vs. colonized" mentalities. Despite an extensive history of environmental exploitation at the hands of various imperialist forces and the emergence of pollutant-heavy industries, indigenous environmental rights are gradually improving. This paper concludes with a contemporary analysis of succesful environmental rights movements at the dawn of President Tsai Ing-wen's formal apology to indigenous groups in 2016. &nbsp

    Temporal and Spatial Evolution and Influencing Factors of Public Sentiment in Natural Disasters—A Case Study of Typhoon Haiyan

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    The public’s attitudes, emotions, and opinions reflect the state of society to a certain extent. Understanding the state and trends of public sentiment and effectively guiding the direction of sentiment are essential for maintaining social stability during disasters. Social media data have become the most effective resource for studying public sentiment. The TextBlob tool is used to calculate the sentiment value of tweets, and this research analyzed the public’s sentiment state during Typhoon Haiyan, used the biterm topic model (BTM) to classify topics, explored the changing process of public discussion topics at different stages during the disaster, and analyzed the differences in people’s discussion content under different sentiments. We also analyzed the spatial pattern of sentiment and quantitatively explored the influencing factors of the sentiment spatial differences. The results showed that the overall public sentiment during Typhoon Haiyan tended to be positive, that compared with positive tweets, negative tweets contained more serious disaster information and more urgent demand information, and that the number of tweets, population, and the proportion of the young and middle-aged populations were the dominant factors in the sentiment spatial differences

    Contextualizing Disaster

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    "Contextualizing Disaster" offers a comparative analysis of six recent highly visible disasters and several slow-burning, hidden, crises that include typhoons, tsunamis, earthquakes, chemical spills, and the unfolding consequences of rising seas and climate change. The book argues that, while disasters are increasingly represented by the media as unique, exceptional, newsworthy events, it is a mistake to think of disasters as isolated or discrete occurrences. Rather, building on insights developed by political ecologists, this book makes a compelling argument for understanding disasters as transnational and global phenomena

    Bridging the Blue-Green Divide: The Role of Environmental NGOs in Tackling Environmental Problems in Taiwan

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    This thesis attempts to provide a brief historical outline of the environmental movement in Taiwan and the unique political situation that has directly affected how the movement has progressed. Thereafter, it looks at some examples of environmental disputes that have occurred in recent years, paying special attention to the ways the environmental movement has interacted with the government. This provides the background to frame the analysis, which will shed light on the reasons for the current state of distrust and antagonistic interactions between the environmental movement and the government. Finally, the thesis evaluates whether such interactions with the government is helpful for the environmental movement in achieving its goals, while suggesting other possible models of environmentalism in Taiwan

    Disaster resilience and causal linkages between natural disasters and human behavior: A longitudinal case study with victims of typhoon Yolanda in Panay, Philippines

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    This thesis investigates channels to improve individual/household disaster resilience and the causal relation between disaster exposure and changes in capital endowment, social preferences and risk preferences. We use longitudinal data of Philippine coastal villagers from the island Panay which consists of two waves of observation. The first wave was conducted one year before, the second wave three years after one of the most devastating typhoons which ever occurred since meteorological recordings: typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda). Our data-set includes observations of 1156 individuals, whereat 449 of which are represented in both waves of observation and about half of our observed part of the population was strongly affected by the typhoon, while the other half was rather mildly affected, or not affected at all. We conducted a variety of methods in both years, including incentivized experimental games such as the solidarity game and risk tasks, as well as key informant interviews and focus group discussions including participatory rural appraisal tools in the second wave of observation. We use the collected data to identify channels which contributed most to an effective disaster recovery process, as well as causal relations between disaster exposure and development of human, social, and financial capital and development in risk- and social preferences. The results of this thesis show that investments in households financial capital may be most promising to foster faster disaster recovery compared to other forms of capital, such as social and human capital. We find no causal relation between disaster exposure and behavior in incentivized risk- and social preference tasks, contrary to studies which mostly have only cross sectional data at hand. Therefore this study makes important implications for decision makers involved in disaster risk reduction, by providing further understanding of what possible key determinants of households disaster resilience are, and how capital endowment and aspects of human behavior change over time as a consequence to a typhoon. The results of this study are furthermore highly relevant for the Philippine population, since reports from the latest IPCC imply that the nation may have to face increasing numbers in severe typhoons in the future

    Governmentality and exclusion in post-disaster spaces : conducting the conduct of the survivors of Typhoon Sendong in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines

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    Lorsque les alĂ©as naturels se dĂ©roulent en catastrophes, les rĂ©ponses des religieux, de l’Etat, et d’autres acteurs puissants dans une sociĂ©tĂ© rĂ©vĂšlent Ă  la fois les relations complexes entre ces parties et leur pouvoir dans la production des espaces auxquelles les survivants accĂšdent. La rĂ©ponse en cas de catastrophe comprend la crĂ©ation d’espaces post-catastrophes, tels que des centres d’évacuation, des logements de transition et des sites de rĂ©installation permanente, qui ciblent spĂ©cifiquement un sous-ensemble particulier de survivants, et visent Ă  les aider Ă  survivre, Ă  faire face, et Ă  se remettre de la catastrophe. Les acteurs puissants dans une sociĂ©tĂ© dirigent les processus de secours, de rĂ©cupĂ©ration et de reconstruction sont des acteurs puissants qui cherchent Ă  problĂ©matiser et Ă  rendre un problĂšme technique dans des termes qu’ils sont idĂ©alement placĂ©s pour aborder Ă  travers une variĂ©tĂ© d'interventions. Ce projet de recherche vise Ă  rĂ©pondre Ă  la question: oĂč les survivants d'une catastrophe reconstruisent-ils leurs vies et leurs moyens de subsistance? Il enquĂȘte sur un cas spĂ©cifique de la migration environnementale dans laquelle des dizaines de milliers d'habitants ont Ă©tĂ© dĂ©placĂ©s de façon permanente et temporaire de leurs rĂ©sidences habituelles aprĂšs le typhon Sendong Ă  Cagayan de Oro, Philippines en 2011. La recherche est basĂ©e sur des entretiens avec les acteurs puissants et les survivants, des vidĂ©os participatives rĂ©alisĂ©es par des survivants pauvres urbains, et des activitĂ©s de cartographie. L’étude se fonde sur la thĂ©orie fĂ©ministe, les Ă©tudes de migration, les Ă©tudes dans la gouvernementalitĂ©, la recherche sur les changements de l’environnement planĂ©taire, et les Ă©tudes rĂ©gionales afin de situer les diverses expĂ©riences de la migration dans un contexte gĂ©ographique et historique. Cette thĂšse propose une topographie critique dans laquelle les processus et les pratiques de production d’espaces post-catastrophe sont exposĂ©s. Parce que l’espace est nĂ©cessairement mallĂ©able, fluide, et relationnelle en raison de l'Ă©volution constante des activitĂ©s, des conflits, et des expĂ©riences qui se dĂ©roulent dans le paysage, une analyse de l'espace doit ĂȘtre formulĂ©e en termes de relations sociales qui se produisent dans et au-delĂ  de ses frontiĂšres poreuses. En consĂ©quence, cette Ă©tude explore comment les relations sociales entre les survivants et les acteurs puissants sont liĂ©es Ă  l’exclusion, la gouvernementalitĂ©, la mobilitĂ©, et la production des espaces, des lieux et des territoires. Il constate que, si les trajectoires de migration de la plupart des survivants ont Ă©tĂ© confinĂ©s Ă  l'intĂ©rieur des limites de la ville, les expĂ©riences de ces survivants et leur utilisation des espaces urbains sont trĂšs diffĂ©rentes. Ces diffĂ©rences peuvent ĂȘtre expliquĂ©es par des structures politiques, Ă©conomiques, et sociales, et par les diffĂ©rences religieuses, Ă©conomiques, et de genre. En outre, il fait valoir que les espaces post-catastrophe doivent ĂȘtre considĂ©rĂ©s comme des «espaces d’exclusion» oĂč les fiduciaires exercent une rationalitĂ© gouvernementale. C’est-Ă -dire, les espaces post-catastrophe prĂ©tendument inclusives servent Ă  marginaliser davantage les populations vulnĂ©rables. Ces espaces offrent aussi des occasions pour les acteurs puissants dans la sociĂ©tĂ© philippine d'effectuer des interventions gouvernementales dans lesquelles certaines personnes et les paysages sont simplifiĂ©es, rendues lisibles, et amĂ©liorĂ©s.When natural hazards unfold into disasters, the responses of religious, state, and other trustees reveal both the complex relationships among these parties and their power in producing the spaces accessed by the survivors. The disaster response includes the creation of post-disaster spaces, such as evacuation centres, transitional housing, and permanent resettlement sites, that specifically target or appeal to a particular subset of survivors, and aim to help them to survive, to cope with, and to recover from the disaster. The trustees directing the processes of disaster relief, recovery, and rebuilding are powerful actors who seek to problematise and render technical an issue in terms that they are ideally placed to address through a variety of interventions. This research project sets out to answer the question: where do the survivors of a disaster rebuild their lives and livelihoods? It investigates a specific case of environmental migration in which tens of thousands of residents were permanently and temporarily displaced from their usual places of residence after Typhoon Sendong in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines in 2011. The research is based on interviews with trustees and survivors, participatory videos made by urban poor survivors, and mapping activities. The study draws on feminist theory, migration studies, studies in governmentality, global environmental change literature, and regional studies to situate diverse experiences of migration within a geographical and historical context. This dissertation offers a critical topography in which the processes and practices of producing post-disaster spaces are exposed. Because space is necessarily malleable, fluid, and relational due to the ever-changing activities, conflict, and experiences unfolding in the landscape, any analysis of space must be formulated in terms of the social relations occurring within and beyond its porous boundaries. Accordingly, this study explores how the social relations among survivors and trustees are linked to exclusion, governmentality, mobility, and space- and place-making. It finds that although the migration trajectories of most survivors were confined within the city limits, the experiences of these survivors and their use of urban spaces were vastly different. These differences can be explained by political, economic, and social structures, and by religious, economic, and gender differences. Furthermore, it argues that post-disaster spaces are best understood as “spaces of exclusion” where trustees exercise a governmental rationality. That is, purportedly inclusive post-disaster spaces serve to further marginalise vulnerable populations. These spaces also open opportunities for trustees to carry out governmental interventions in which certain people and landscapes are simplified, rendered legible, and improved

    Vibrancy of Public Spaces: Inclusivity and Participation Amidst the Challenges in Transformative Process in the City of Cagayan de Oro, Philippines

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    This study examines the dynamics which lead to revitalization of everyday life in the public spaces of Cagayan de Oro, a medium-sized urban center in Northern Mindanao, the Philippines. By employing the oriental philosophies together with western thoughts such as Henri Lefebvre, Alain Touraine and JĂŒrgen Habermas, this study elucidates that the core of perceived, lived and conceived spaces is ‘the Subject.’ Once the Subject utilizes the public sphere to instill social action, social space is ultimately produced. Hawkers, grassroots environmental activists, street readers and artists are the social Subjects who partake in the vibrancy of public spaces. The social Subjects utilize public spaces as venues of social transformation. Thus, this study argues that the social Subjects’ role in democratic process lead to inclusivity of the marginalized sector in the public spaces of the city

    2nd Edition of Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (Health-EDRM)

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    Disasters such as earthquakes, cyclones, floods, heat waves, nuclear accidents, and large-scale pollution incidents take lives and incur major health problems. The majority of large-scale disasters affect the most vulnerable populations, which often comprise extreme ages, remote living areas, and endemic poverty, as well as people with low literacy. Health emergency and disaster risk management (Health-EDRM) refers to the systematic analysis and management of health risks surrounding emergencies and disasters, and plays an important role in reducing the hazards and vulnerability along with extending preparedness, responses, and recovery measures. This concept encompasses risk analyses and interventions, such as accessible early warning systems, the timely deployment of relief workers, and the provision of suitable drugs and medical equipment to decrease the impact of disasters on people before, during, and after an event (or events). Currently, there is a major gap in the scientific literature regarding Health-EDRM to facilitate major global policies and initiatives for disaster risk reduction worldwide

    Indigenous Resilience and Indigenous Knowledge Systems in the context of Climate Change

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    Indigenous peoples, in Taiwan and worldwide, need to come up with various ways to cope with and adapt to rapid environmental change. This edited book, which is a follow-up to a conference entitled “Climate Change, Indigenous Resilience and Local Knowledge Systems: Cross-time and Cross-boundary Perspectives” organized by the Research Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Ministry of Science and Technology, presents 16 papers which explore the various dimensions of Indigenous resilience to climate change and disasters in Taiwan and other regions in the world. This book explores the interrelated themes of climate change and Indigenous knowledge-based responses, and Indigenous (community) resilience with specific reference to Typhoon Morakot and beyond. The goals of this book are to discuss the international experience with Indigenous resilience; to review Indigenous knowledge for adaptation to climate change and disasters; and to generate a conversation among scholars, Indigenous peoples, and policy-makers to move the agenda forward. This book focusses on Indigenous resilience, the ways in which cultural factors such as knowledge and learning, along with the broader political ecology, determine how local and Indigenous people understand, deal with, and adapt to environmental change

    Shooting Stars and Dancing Fish: A Walk to the World We Want

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    From the foreword by Durwood Zaelke, President, Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, Washington, DC. “Since the beginning of time, human knowledge and culture have been passed down through stories. Short stories, songs, prayers, poems, even paintings can stick in your mind forever. These have always been the most powerful ways we learn and remember. Tony is not only one of the world’s greatest lawyers, he is also one of the world’s greatest storytellers. This book, in which he generously shares his experiences, his scars, and most importantly his humanity, is Tony’s gift to generations to come. But he does not entrust us with his life stories for entertainment. These stories have a purpose. As Tony reminds us all, the time for taking is over. And the time for talking is over. These stories are a call to action. Through humor, beauty and sometimes fear, Tony brilliantly demonstrates how we can and we should ‘paint our future.’ He opens our minds to the possibilities for brighter surroundings. Concepts like creative justice and the law of life, are simple yet brilliant examples of how we must learn to interact with the world around us. This is not a textbook meant just for lawyers, policymakers or scientists. Rather it distills concepts like law, diplomacy and observation to show where we need to go and how we can get there. Whether it be writing, singing or painting, Tony has always had a gift for storytelling. This is a storybook for the future, and we are lucky to have Tony showing all of us the way.
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