Reconstructing Genba

Bibliographic Data

ID12423976
AuthorsLin Yi-ping (corresponding author), Yi-Ping Lin
Year2018
Volume26
Issue2
Pages305-341
Publication date2018-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
Venuepositions asia critique (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1067-9847 • E-ISSN: 1527-8271
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/10679847-4351578
OpenAlexW2884044983
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited37

Research Article| May 01 2018 Reconstructing Genba: RCA Groundwater Pollution, Research, and Lawsuit in Taiwan, 1970–2014 Yi-Ping Lin Yi-Ping Lin Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google positions (2018) 26 (2): 305–341. https://doi.org/10.1215/10679847-4351578 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter Email Permissions Search Site Citation Yi-Ping Lin; Reconstructing Genba: RCA Groundwater Pollution, Research, and Lawsuit in Taiwan, 1970–2014. positions 1 May 2018; 26 (2): 305–341. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/10679847-4351578 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter Books & JournalsAll Journalspositions Search Advanced Search This article analyzes how the first collective action toxic tort in Taiwanese history, Former RCA Employees’ Mutual Aid Association v. Radio Corporation of America (RCA), produced a space of deliberation about the causal effects of chronic exposure to organic solvents to human health. The author shows how this space, the collective RCA genba, was reconstructed in research laboratories, at Taipei District Court, and finally, in the judges’ verdict as efforts to understand groundwater pollution took place from various standpoints. Analysis of the media coverage, government files, scientific papers, legal documents, and the Taipei District Court verdict illuminate how a space for contestation was forged in lieu of the closed RCA factory (and RCA’s acquisition by other multinationals). At three different moments — research about RCA’s activities, the lawsuit, and the verdict—victims, industry, the legal profession, and others created and contested knowledge related to the effects of groundwater pollution. In examining the processes leading to the 2015 verdict favoring the RCA plaintiffs, this article shows how the judges reconstructed the RCA genba between 1970 and 1992. RCA offers more than a case study for examining how judges and scientists (acting as experts) engage in boundary work to construct scientific validity. Explication of the RCA case in the East Asian context has many important social and policy implications, considering the tenuous relationship between the presence of factories of multinational corporations as employers and their roles in mediating workers’ health. The text of this article is only available as a PDF. toxic torts, environmental pollution, public health research, science and law, Taiwan, genba Copyright 2018 Duke University Press2018 You do not currently have access to this content

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