Southeast Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions, particularly on the impacts of the global climate crisis. Sea-level rise threatens to inundate numerous islands and densely populated coastal cities across the region, displacing tens (possibly hundreds) of millions of people and creating a “climate refugee” crisis with global ramifications. Massively destructive “super typhoons” have become more frequent, along with erratic patterns of flooding and cold spells in some areas and severe heat waves and droughts in others. Such extreme weather threatens the food security, shelter, and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people.

This working group will explore the ecological crisis in Southeast Asia through the lens of environmental justice, by asking the following questions: How are Southeast Asians responding to the climate crisis in the realms of politics, economics, culture, and activism? How and why are the poor, women and children, ethnic and religious minorities, and Indigenous peoples in Southeast Asia disproportionately exposed to poor air quality, high levels of toxicity, and the impacts of the climate crisis itself? How is this profound disparity in exposure and vulnerability intimately intertwined with the histories of Western and Japanese colonialism, capitalist accumulation, and the rise of fossil fuel-based economies?

This project is funded by the Title VI National Resource Center grant to the UC Berkeley-UCLA Consortium for Southeast Asian Studies. 

MEMBERS

• Nancy Peluso (UC Berkeley, Environmental Science, Policy & Management)
• Stephen Acabado (UCLA, Anthropology)
• Oona Paredes (UCLA, Asian Languages and Cultures)
• Kathleen Gutierrez (UC Santa Cruz, Anthropology)
• Trisha Remetir (Postdoc, UC Riverside, Media & Cultural Studies)
• Linh Nguyen (CSU Fullerton, Modern Languages & Literatures)
• Sarah Grant (CSU Fullerton, Anthropology)
• Angie Ngoc Tran (CSU Monterrey Bay, Global Studies)
• David Biggs (UC Riverside, History)

 WORKSHOP PROGRAM

April 24, 2023 at UCLA

10AM Session 1 

Welcome Remarks by Stephen Acabado

10:10AM Stephen Acabado

10:30AM Kathleen Gutierrez

10:50AM Oona Paredes

11:10AM Sarah Grant

12:00PM Public Panel

"Local Ecological Knowledge and Environment Justice in the Philippines"

Speakers: Kathleen Gutierrez and Trisha Remetir

Moderated by Stephen Acabado

1:30PM Session 2

1:40PM Angie Tran

2:00PM Linh Nguyen

2:20PM Trisha Remetir

2:40PM Nancy Peluso

3:00PM David Biggs

3:45PM Group Discussion

Areas of need in terms of research support, networking

Potential for collaboration, share upcoming projects

Growth and direction of Southeast Asian Studies in California

Teaching and curriculum in UC/CSU systems

5:15PM Closing Remarks

5:30PM Workshop Ends