1

(4 Sept.)

Informal preamble

Prof. Jobin is abroad for a conference but Teaching Assistant Ping-Mou Tsai, who was already TA for this class in 2024, will be happy to give you some printed materials and answer your questions about the class.

2

(11 Sept.)

Introduction to Gaiapolitics and Negotiation Theaters 

Paul Jobin and Tzung-Wen Chen, “Upgrading Gaia-politics: An East-Asian Perspective”, Science, Technology, & Human Values, 2023, 48(5): 1018-1041.

3

(18 Sept.)

Environmental Movements in Taiwan

Paul Jobin, 2021, “Environmental Movements in Taiwan’s Anthropocene: A Civic Eco-Nationalism,” in Environmental Movements and Politics of the Asian Anthropocene (ed. by Paul Jobin, Ming-sho Ho and Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao, Singapore: ISEAS, 2021), pp.37-78.

4

(25 Sept.)

Coping with natural disasters and war scenarios

Paul Jobin, “Coping with the Climate War and Resurgent Authoritarianism: A View from Taiwan” (Global Rise of Autocracy: Its Threat to Sustainable Future, B. Wejnert ed., London: Routledge), 2025, pp.221-250.

With Civvy Huang

and Veronica Lee

(NCCU Green24 Sustainability Club)

5

(2 Oct.)

Indigenous peoples between Gaya and Gaiapolitics

• Scott Simon, “A Little Bird Told Me: Changing Human–Bird Relations on a Formosan Indigenous Territory,” Anthropologica 2020 (62): 70–84.


• Scott Simon, “What the Indo-Pacific Strategy means for Indigenous Peoples,” CIPS, December 2022.


• Paul Jobin, “Extractivism in the Critical Zone”, in Critical Zones. The Science and Politics of Landing on Earth, edited by Bruno Latour & Peter Weibel, eds., Cambridge: MIT Press, pp. 80-83.

6

(9 Oct.)

Civil defense and disaster response

• Wen Liu, “The Mundane Politics of War in Taiwan: Psychological Preparedness and Permanent War,” Security & Dialogue, 2023, 55(1): 103-122.


• https://kuma-academy.org/about?lang=en

Off campus

(Kuma Academy)

With

Dr. Wen Liu

(Institute of Ethnology,

Academia Sinica)

& Dr. Josh Wenger

(Institute of Sociology,

Academia Sinica)

7

(16 Oct.)

Indigenous Peoples and geothermal colonization

• Yi-shiuan Yayut Chen, “How Indigenous peoples in Taiwan continue to reclaim their lands rights despite 400 years of colonisation”, Melbourne Asia Review, 23 June 2022


• Yi-shiuan Yayut Chen, “Decolonizing Methodologies, Situated Resilience, and Country: Insights from Tayal Country, Taiwan”, Sustainability 2020, 12, 9751.


• Yi-shiuan Yayut Chen, “Articulating Indigeneity in the messiness: Resource politics and capitalism in Qalang na Tayal (Tayal communities), Taiwan”, Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 43(5), 828-850.

With

Dr. Yi-shiuan Yayut Chen

(NCCU, College of Social Sciences,)

8

(23 Oct.)

Nuclear Energy: good or false solution?

Paul Jobin and Yun-Chung Ting, “Taiwan Focus”, in The World Nuclear Industry Status Report, 2025, (Paris: Mycle Schneider Consulting), pp.19-20; 159-171.

With

Dr. Yun-Chung Ting

(Institute of Sociology,

Academia Sinica)

9

(30 Oct.)

Mid-term Presentations

You will deliver a 500-word mid-term report and political statement, present it orally, then conduct discussions with other students to form a political party that will be active during the remainder of the semester.

你將撰寫一篇 300字（300英文字或600中文字）的期中報告及政治聲明，進行口頭報告，然後與其他同學討論組成一個政黨，並在下半學期間共同運作。

10

(6 Nov.)

Water and Gaiapolitics

• Ho, Chun-Yi, “The Impact of Geopolitics and Local Verticality on Taiwan’s Underground Water Crisis (1950s-1970s),” forthcoming in East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal.


• Chen, Mei-Huan, “The Geopolitics of Water Infrastructure on the Kinmen Islands”, Geopolitics, 2024, 1–29.


• Cindy Sui, “Why the world should pay attention to Taiwan's drought,” BBC News, 20 April 2021.


• Podcast:【Taiwanology Ep.14】TSMC’s Arizona challenges

With 

Dr. Chun-Yi Ho

(Institute of Taiwan History,

Academia Sinica), 

and

Dr. Mei-Huan Chen

(Department of Geography, National Taiwan University)

11

(13 Nov.)

Drones and dual use in war ecology

• Chun-kuei Lai, “From Critical Chips to International Alliances:Taiwan’s Strategic Role in Shaping a Non-Chinese Drone Supply Chain”, DSET, Sept.2024.


• Norhan Bayomi and John E. Fernandez, “Eyes in the Sky: Drones Applications in the Built Environment under Climate Change Challenges”, Drones, 2023, 7(10), 637.

With 

Dr. Chun-kuei Lai, 

Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology 

12

(20 Nov.)

Plastics and Gaiapolitics

• Paul Jobin, “The Plasticene and the Global South” in Southern Anthropocenes (Casper Jensen, ed.), London: Routledge, 2025, pp.121-133. DOI: 10.4324/9781003655107-13
  
  Paul Jobin, “Our ‘good neighbor’ Formosa Plastics: petrochemical damage(s) and the meanings of money,” Environmental Sociology 2021 (7-1), pp.40-53.

With Cony Chang  (Greenpeace East Asia)

13

War ecology in Europe and Taiwan

(27 Nov.)

Pierre Charbonnier, 2022, “The Birth of War Ecology”, GREEN, 2022, 2(1): 70–76.

With

Luca Mastrosimone

(University of Torino)

and 

Yun Chi (EHESS Paris)

14

COP30

(4 Dec.)

Jasmine Wu, “Taiwan Youth at COP28: Experiences and Perspectives on How Taiwan’s Legal Status Influences UN Participation”, Medium, Feb 25, 2025.

15

At the Legislative Yuan

COP30

(11 Dec.)

Meeting with lawmakers, experts in environment and defense issues

Off campus

16

Conclusion

(18 Dec.)

The scenario for this concluding negotiation theater will be distributed the previous week.