Asia's Environmental Movements in Comparative Perspective

Adopting a comparative perspective, the contributors to this book (1) trace the social, political, economic, and cultural conditions under which environmental movements have emerged and which then sustain and permit them to develop, and (2) assess the transformative capacities of these movements by analyzing their structural ties, cultural values, and political strategies. Two sets of countries have been selected to illustrate the diversity of the experiences of the development of environmental organizations in the region. The first set of research sites includes Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea, all of which are "newly industrializing economies" (NIEs) that have just gone through democratic breakthroughs and are heavily influenced by Confucian cultural values. The second set includes Thailand and the Philippines which, when compared to the NIEs, are less advanced economically and are dominated by Buddhist and Christian cultural values. Given their diverse economic, political, and cultural configurations, these five countries are fertile ground for this comparative study of how structural contexts have shaped the origins and transformation of environmental movements in Asia.