Paul Jobin
Biographic Data
| ID | 517125 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Paul Jobin |
| GIVEN NAMES | Paul |
| FAMILY NAME | Jobin |
| SIGNATURE | JOBIN P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0952-4746 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 18 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 28 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1998 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Taïwan dans l’Orient global
À la croisée des tensions géopolitiques et de l’urgence climatique, Taïwan s’impose comme un cas stratégique central. Entre menace chinoise, dépendance technologique et contraintes environnementales, l’île reconfigure les liens entre écologie et sécurité. Sa résilience esquisse ainsi une écologie politique confrontée aux réalités de la puissance
War frames: Insights from Eastern Europe and East Asia
In spite of a boom in war studies in a range of disciplines, war remains marginal to sociology. Moreover, the dominant tone in war studies is a Western-centred criticism of militarization that tends to neglect weaponized colonialism and imperial irredentism in other parts of the world. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and hybrid war with other European countries is such a case; another is China’s growing military hybrid warfare against nei…
A sociological approach to Japan’s war frames and security threats
The sociology of war has thus far focused on the history of past wars, neglecting ongoing evolution over social attitudes toward the risk of potential wars. In contrast, international relations scholars tend to neglect the legacy of past wars in the analysis of the social reception of security discourses. To address these lacunas, this article draws on the notion of war frames and focuses its analysis on the critical voices of the securitization …
Chemo-anxiety and the regimes of toxicity
Drawing on the Foucauldian notion of regimes of truth, this paper introduces the idea of regimes of toxicity as different forms of knowledge and discourses on toxicity. Furthermore, inspired by critical studies on toxicity, I posit that the dominant regime of toxicity ignores the time bomb of toxicants, which causes terrible anxiety for those who have been exposed, or what I call chemo-anxiety . Former Taiwan RCA workers have faced such anxiety. …
Toward an Upgrade of Gaia-politics: A View from the East Asian Critical Zone
Although Bruno Latour had limited interaction with East Asia, translations of his work contributed to the development of Science and Technology Studies (STS) in that part of the world. More recently, Latour's curation of the Taipei Biennial with STS participation offered a stimulating path for what he framed as Gaia-politics: a reset of modern geopolitics and territories centered on the climate emergency and ecological/terrestrial attachments. Th…
Environmental Movements and Politics of the Asian Anthropocene
“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…
The Valuation of Contaminated Life: RCA in Taiwan and the Compensation of Toxic Exposure
In toxic torts, if the defendants’ negligence is confirmed, the court’s ruling is a punishment translated into monetary amounts, which the plaintiffs are compelled to accept. However, past exposure to toxic substances might continue to cause damage after the judgment, not only among the plaintiffs, but also among their descendants, making an exact measurement of the total damage inflicted almost impossible. A ruling or out-of-court settlement is …
Fukushima en procès: Un Mouvement Social Dans Les Tribunaux Pour Repenser La Catastrophe
Like many industrial calamities that have marked the history of modern and contemporary Japan, the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster has given rise to many lawsuits; currently, these involve several thousand plaintiffs from all over Japan. On top of a criminal case against three Tepco executives, there are more than 30 class actions pending against Tepco and the state. These lawsuits raise fundamental questions about the origin of the disaste…
The Hermeneutics of Radiation and the Three Tsunamis
The first tsunami that hit northern Japan in March 2011 was a big wave of salt water. The second tsunami was comprised of cement dikes designed to protect against a tsunami. The third tsunami is a socio-political process that erases memory of the disaster. The nuclear disaster that followed the first tsunami has reactivated the dispute over the effects of low-dose radiation. This controversy, which dates back to the experience of the hibakusha in…
Our ‘good neighbor’ Formosa Plastics: Petrochemical damage(s) and the meanings of money
Through its chronic pollution and recurrent explosions, the petrochemical industry is the source of constant damage for fenceline communities. Measures that might prevent or correct this damage are postponed with a local flow of money, a situation viewed through the prism of the different levels of damage, from chronic pollution to cancers and explosions. This article analyzes how a collective lawsuit launched against a petrochemical complex in T…
The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster and Civil Actions as a Social Movement
In addition to a citizen initiative to launch a criminal lawsuit against Tepco and Japanese state executives over their responsibility for the Fukushima nuclear disaster, more than thirty collective civil actions have been launched across the country. Thus far, thirteen verdicts have been handed down, with a large majority of courts ruling against Tepco and the state. Despite disappointingly small amounts of compensation, these verdicts carry imp…
Les voies multiples du développement en Asie
Here we discuss the existence of an Asian development path, the role of states in development, that of businesses, that of the money market and the banking system, integration into the world trading system and the question of the cultural model. , as well as that of the imperatives of sustainable development. Can we consider that there is an Asian development path? What is the relevance of the Japanese 'geese in flight' development model defined …
Brett L. Walker, Toxic Archipelago: A History of Industrial Disease in Japan
Toxic Archipelago has been well received among scholars of Japan, as well as environmental historians—it was the winner of the 2011 George Perkins Marsh Prize for the best book in environmental his
Being Nuclear: Africans and the Global Uranium Trade
Japan's 3.11 Triple Disaster: Introduction to a Special Issue
Three years ago Japan's northeast was pummeled by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, triggering a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The plant spewed much of its payload into the surrounding air, countryside and sea, leaving damage that will be with us for decades. Much of what we know about the disaster is still shrouded in mystery. Did Japan's huge civil engineering projects alleviate the impact of the disaster, or m…
Asia-Pacific Journal Articles Recommended for Further Reading
This interview with Paul Jobin touches on the opinions of nuclear power plant workers and local residents, and presents an analysis of their responses to government policies.Jobin has researched nuclear
The Roadmap for Fukushima Daiichi and the Sacrifice of Japan's Clean-up Workers
During his June 2013 visit to Poland, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo highlighted the crisis management of the post-3.11 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as an argument for the sales and promotion of Japanese nuclear technology. A few weeks before, the French company Areva mobilized to promote cooperation with Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd, Atox and Hitachi-GE during French President François Hollande's visit to Japan
An appeal for improving labour conditions of Fukushima Daiichi workers
Reacting to testimonies of workers published in Sekai (a progressive Japanese monthly journal) and recent radio broadcasts, this individual call from Canada echoes the requests of Japanese NGOs that have been engaged in negotiations with the Ministry of Health and Labor since April 2011 to defend the rights of the workers involved in the "cleanup" of the disasterstricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and of those hired to carry out "decon…
Qui est protégé par la radioprotection
During the first weeks of the March 11th catastrophe, the maximum level of radiation exposure for nuclear plant workers was set at 250 millisieverts (mSv) per year, instead of the normal 20 mSv. Then, following the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiation Protection, the government decided that the inhabitants of Fukushima Prefecture could be exposed to a maximum of 20 mSv a year (opposed to 1 mSv in normal times). The resulti…
BBC and ZDF documentaries on Fukushima + 1
Last month, many TV channels around the world broadcast special reports on the nuclear crisis of March 2011. Among these, BBC's "Inside the Meltdown" and German TV channel ZDF's "Die Fukushima-Lüge" (The Fukushima lie) deserve special mention, as they both drew significant attention on the Japanese web
Nuclear Irresponsibility: Koide Hiroaki Interviewed by Le Monde
Last summer, the Asia-Pacific Journal highlighted the views of Hiroaki Koide, one of the leading critics of nuclear power from within Japan's scientific establishment and an important voice on Japan's current nuclear crisis. Koide, with four decades of experience as a nuclear engineer, is an Assistant Professor at Kyoto University's Research Reactor Institute. He has long been mired in that low academic rank because of his shift from support of n…
Fukushima One Year On: Nuclear workers and citizens at risk
Paul Jobin began research on Japanese (and Taiwanese) nuclear plant workers in 2002, mainly at Fukushima Daiichi. After March 2011, he conducted further interviews in Fukushima and Hamaoka and joined rounds of negotiation launched by labor groups with the Ministry of Health and Labor
Dying for Tepco? Fukushima's Nuclear Contract Workers
While the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) experiences difficulties in recruiting workers willing to go to Fukushima to clean up the damaged reactors, the WHO is planning to conduct an epidemiological survey on the catastrophe. This is the first of two reports by Paul Jobin offering a worker-centered analysis of the Fukushima nuclear disaster
Risques et protestations dans la « Green Silicon Island ». Les luttes pour la visibilité des maladies industrielles à Taiwan
Cet article présente les luttes de différents acteurs, allant des ONG écologistes aux militants proches du mouvement ouvrier, pour donner une plus grande visibilité sociale aux risques industriels. Après une description des étapes clés du mouvement environnemental taiwanais depuis la transition démocratique du milieu des années 1980, la seconde partie s’intéresse aux ONG du travail qui représentent une forme originale de mobilisation pour la réfo…
Les cobayes portent plainte: Usages de l'épidémiologie dans deux affaires de maladies industrielles à Taiwan
Cet article présente les deux premières grandes affaires de maladies industrielles portées en justice à Taiwan. La première, qui se déroule dans le nord de l'île près de Taipei, concerne plus d'un millier de femmes, aujourd'hui atteintes de diverses formes de cancer. Elles ont été exposées à toute une gamme de solvants organiques lorsqu'elles travaillaient pour une usine de télévision du fabriquant américain RCA. Les accusés de ce procès sont l'a…
A sociological approach to Japan’s war frames and security threats
The sociology of war has thus far focused on the history of past wars, neglecting ongoing evolution over social attitudes toward the risk of potential wars. In contrast, international relations scholars tend to neglect the legacy of past wars in the analysis of the social reception of security discourses. To address these lacunas, this article draws on the notion of war frames and focuses its analysis on the critical voices of the securitization …
Our ‘good neighbor’ Formosa Plastics: Petrochemical damage(s) and the meanings of money
Through its chronic pollution and recurrent explosions, the petrochemical industry is the source of constant damage for fenceline communities. Measures that might prevent or correct this damage are postponed with a local flow of money, a situation viewed through the prism of the different levels of damage, from chronic pollution to cancers and explosions. This article analyzes how a collective lawsuit launched against a petrochemical complex in T…
Qui est protégé par la radioprotection
During the first weeks of the March 11th catastrophe, the maximum level of radiation exposure for nuclear plant workers was set at 250 millisieverts (mSv) per year, instead of the normal 20 mSv. Then, following the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiation Protection, the government decided that the inhabitants of Fukushima Prefecture could be exposed to a maximum of 20 mSv a year (opposed to 1 mSv in normal times). The resulti…
Risques et protestations dans la « Green Silicon Island ». Les luttes pour la visibilité des maladies industrielles à Taiwan
Cet article présente les luttes de différents acteurs, allant des ONG écologistes aux militants proches du mouvement ouvrier, pour donner une plus grande visibilité sociale aux risques industriels. Après une description des étapes clés du mouvement environnemental taiwanais depuis la transition démocratique du milieu des années 1980, la seconde partie s’intéresse aux ONG du travail qui représentent une forme originale de mobilisation pour la réfo…
War frames: Insights from Eastern Europe and East Asia
In spite of a boom in war studies in a range of disciplines, war remains marginal to sociology. Moreover, the dominant tone in war studies is a Western-centred criticism of militarization that tends to neglect weaponized colonialism and imperial irredentism in other parts of the world. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and hybrid war with other European countries is such a case; another is China’s growing military hybrid warfare against nei…
Toward an Upgrade of Gaia-politics: A View from the East Asian Critical Zone
Although Bruno Latour had limited interaction with East Asia, translations of his work contributed to the development of Science and Technology Studies (STS) in that part of the world. More recently, Latour's curation of the Taipei Biennial with STS participation offered a stimulating path for what he framed as Gaia-politics: a reset of modern geopolitics and territories centered on the climate emergency and ecological/terrestrial attachments. Th…
The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster and Civil Actions as a Social Movement
In addition to a citizen initiative to launch a criminal lawsuit against Tepco and Japanese state executives over their responsibility for the Fukushima nuclear disaster, more than thirty collective civil actions have been launched across the country. Thus far, thirteen verdicts have been handed down, with a large majority of courts ruling against Tepco and the state. Despite disappointingly small amounts of compensation, these verdicts carry imp…
Les cobayes portent plainte: Usages de l'épidémiologie dans deux affaires de maladies industrielles à Taiwan
Cet article présente les deux premières grandes affaires de maladies industrielles portées en justice à Taiwan. La première, qui se déroule dans le nord de l'île près de Taipei, concerne plus d'un millier de femmes, aujourd'hui atteintes de diverses formes de cancer. Elles ont été exposées à toute une gamme de solvants organiques lorsqu'elles travaillaient pour une usine de télévision du fabriquant américain RCA. Les accusés de ce procès sont l'a…
La pensée comptable: État, néolibéralisme, nouvelle gestion publique
La profonde crise du modèle économique ont fortement remis en question le rôle de l’Etat dans la croissance économique et dans la régulation de la société. Il est devenu banal de constater la subordination de l’Etat à un marché devenu à la fois instrument d’allocation des ressources et étalon de mesure des politiques publiques. La « révolution conservatrice » a entraîné au Nord comme au Sud une attaque en règle contre l’Etat-providence et les adm…
La maladie de Minamata et le conflit pour la reconnaissance
Malgré le « règlement définitif» imposé par l'État aux associations de malades en 1995, la maladie de Minamata ne cesse de faire l'objet de réflexions croisées entre les acteurs du mouvement et un vaste public (nombreuses publications, colloques, manifestations culturelles, etc). Cette persistance des enjeux de mémoire reflète la virulence qu'a connue le conflit entre les malades et la firme Chisso. Jusqu'à l'issue du premier procès contre la fir…
Les nouveaux syndicats au Japon: Minoritaires Et Fiers De l'Être
Labornet Japan » et le renouveau syndical par le net
Le réseau Labornet a été créé en Californie en 1991 par des syndicalistes, pour donner un nouveau souffle au mouvement ouvrier. Il est aujourd’hui présent dans une dizaine de pays industrialisés, en Amérique du Nord, en Europe et en Asie. La branche japonaise, Labornet Japan, est née en 2001 avec l’aide des militants coréens. À travers une série d’événements annuels comme la Labor Fiesta ou la campagne Union, Yes !, la diffusion de vidéos sur Uni…
Risques et protestations dans la « Green Silicon Island ». Les luttes pour la visibilité des maladies industrielles à Taiwan
Cet article présente les luttes de différents acteurs, allant des ONG écologistes aux militants proches du mouvement ouvrier, pour donner une plus grande visibilité sociale aux risques industriels. Après une description des étapes clés du mouvement environnemental taiwanais depuis la transition démocratique du milieu des années 1980, la seconde partie s’intéresse aux ONG du travail qui représentent une forme originale de mobilisation pour la réfo…
Les cobayes portent plainte: Usages de l'épidémiologie dans deux affaires de maladies industrielles à Taiwan
Cet article présente les deux premières grandes affaires de maladies industrielles portées en justice à Taiwan. La première, qui se déroule dans le nord de l'île près de Taipei, concerne plus d'un millier de femmes, aujourd'hui atteintes de diverses formes de cancer. Elles ont été exposées à toute une gamme de solvants organiques lorsqu'elles travaillaient pour une usine de télévision du fabriquant américain RCA. Les accusés de ce procès sont l'a…
Dying for Tepco? Fukushima's Nuclear Contract Workers
While the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) experiences difficulties in recruiting workers willing to go to Fukushima to clean up the damaged reactors, the WHO is planning to conduct an epidemiological survey on the catastrophe. This is the first of two reports by Paul Jobin offering a worker-centered analysis of the Fukushima nuclear disaster
Qui est protégé par la radioprotection
During the first weeks of the March 11th catastrophe, the maximum level of radiation exposure for nuclear plant workers was set at 250 millisieverts (mSv) per year, instead of the normal 20 mSv. Then, following the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiation Protection, the government decided that the inhabitants of Fukushima Prefecture could be exposed to a maximum of 20 mSv a year (opposed to 1 mSv in normal times). The resulti…
BBC and ZDF documentaries on Fukushima + 1
Last month, many TV channels around the world broadcast special reports on the nuclear crisis of March 2011. Among these, BBC's "Inside the Meltdown" and German TV channel ZDF's "Die Fukushima-Lüge" (The Fukushima lie) deserve special mention, as they both drew significant attention on the Japanese web
Nuclear Irresponsibility: Koide Hiroaki Interviewed by Le Monde
Last summer, the Asia-Pacific Journal highlighted the views of Hiroaki Koide, one of the leading critics of nuclear power from within Japan's scientific establishment and an important voice on Japan's current nuclear crisis. Koide, with four decades of experience as a nuclear engineer, is an Assistant Professor at Kyoto University's Research Reactor Institute. He has long been mired in that low academic rank because of his shift from support of n…
Fukushima One Year On: Nuclear workers and citizens at risk
Paul Jobin began research on Japanese (and Taiwanese) nuclear plant workers in 2002, mainly at Fukushima Daiichi. After March 2011, he conducted further interviews in Fukushima and Hamaoka and joined rounds of negotiation launched by labor groups with the Ministry of Health and Labor
Asia-Pacific Journal Articles Recommended for Further Reading
This interview with Paul Jobin touches on the opinions of nuclear power plant workers and local residents, and presents an analysis of their responses to government policies.Jobin has researched nuclear
The Roadmap for Fukushima Daiichi and the Sacrifice of Japan's Clean-up Workers
During his June 2013 visit to Poland, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo highlighted the crisis management of the post-3.11 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as an argument for the sales and promotion of Japanese nuclear technology. A few weeks before, the French company Areva mobilized to promote cooperation with Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd, Atox and Hitachi-GE during French President François Hollande's visit to Japan
An appeal for improving labour conditions of Fukushima Daiichi workers
Reacting to testimonies of workers published in Sekai (a progressive Japanese monthly journal) and recent radio broadcasts, this individual call from Canada echoes the requests of Japanese NGOs that have been engaged in negotiations with the Ministry of Health and Labor since April 2011 to defend the rights of the workers involved in the "cleanup" of the disasterstricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and of those hired to carry out "decon…
Brett L. Walker, Toxic Archipelago: A History of Industrial Disease in Japan
Toxic Archipelago has been well received among scholars of Japan, as well as environmental historians—it was the winner of the 2011 George Perkins Marsh Prize for the best book in environmental his
Being Nuclear: Africans and the Global Uranium Trade
Japan's 3.11 Triple Disaster: Introduction to a Special Issue
Three years ago Japan's northeast was pummeled by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, triggering a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The plant spewed much of its payload into the surrounding air, countryside and sea, leaving damage that will be with us for decades. Much of what we know about the disaster is still shrouded in mystery. Did Japan's huge civil engineering projects alleviate the impact of the disaster, or m…
Les voies multiples du développement en Asie
Here we discuss the existence of an Asian development path, the role of states in development, that of businesses, that of the money market and the banking system, integration into the world trading system and the question of the cultural model. , as well as that of the imperatives of sustainable development. Can we consider that there is an Asian development path? What is the relevance of the Japanese 'geese in flight' development model defined …
Our ‘good neighbor’ Formosa Plastics: Petrochemical damage(s) and the meanings of money
Through its chronic pollution and recurrent explosions, the petrochemical industry is the source of constant damage for fenceline communities. Measures that might prevent or correct this damage are postponed with a local flow of money, a situation viewed through the prism of the different levels of damage, from chronic pollution to cancers and explosions. This article analyzes how a collective lawsuit launched against a petrochemical complex in T…
The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster and Civil Actions as a Social Movement
In addition to a citizen initiative to launch a criminal lawsuit against Tepco and Japanese state executives over their responsibility for the Fukushima nuclear disaster, more than thirty collective civil actions have been launched across the country. Thus far, thirteen verdicts have been handed down, with a large majority of courts ruling against Tepco and the state. Despite disappointingly small amounts of compensation, these verdicts carry imp…
Environmental Movements and Politics of the Asian Anthropocene
“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…
The Valuation of Contaminated Life: RCA in Taiwan and the Compensation of Toxic Exposure
In toxic torts, if the defendants’ negligence is confirmed, the court’s ruling is a punishment translated into monetary amounts, which the plaintiffs are compelled to accept. However, past exposure to toxic substances might continue to cause damage after the judgment, not only among the plaintiffs, but also among their descendants, making an exact measurement of the total damage inflicted almost impossible. A ruling or out-of-court settlement is …
Fukushima en procès: Un Mouvement Social Dans Les Tribunaux Pour Repenser La Catastrophe
Like many industrial calamities that have marked the history of modern and contemporary Japan, the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster has given rise to many lawsuits; currently, these involve several thousand plaintiffs from all over Japan. On top of a criminal case against three Tepco executives, there are more than 30 class actions pending against Tepco and the state. These lawsuits raise fundamental questions about the origin of the disaste…
The Hermeneutics of Radiation and the Three Tsunamis
The first tsunami that hit northern Japan in March 2011 was a big wave of salt water. The second tsunami was comprised of cement dikes designed to protect against a tsunami. The third tsunami is a socio-political process that erases memory of the disaster. The nuclear disaster that followed the first tsunami has reactivated the dispute over the effects of low-dose radiation. This controversy, which dates back to the experience of the hibakusha in…
Toward an Upgrade of Gaia-politics: A View from the East Asian Critical Zone
Although Bruno Latour had limited interaction with East Asia, translations of his work contributed to the development of Science and Technology Studies (STS) in that part of the world. More recently, Latour's curation of the Taipei Biennial with STS participation offered a stimulating path for what he framed as Gaia-politics: a reset of modern geopolitics and territories centered on the climate emergency and ecological/terrestrial attachments. Th…
Political science (19 works) · Risk Perception and Management (9 works) · Art (7 works) · Humanities (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Business (5 works) · History (5 works) · Nuclear physics (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works) · Physics (5 works)