Seminar Series

The Politics of the Pandemic in Asia

Date
Wednesday, 27 October 2021 | 9:00 - 10:00 (JST)
Venue
Zoom Webinar
Language
English
Speakers
  • Jeff Kingston Professor, Asian Studies, History, Temple University
Moderator
  • Sawako Shirahase TCSJ Director
Event Description

The Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak since 2020 has had a variety of consequences, exacting a high death toll, swamping medical systems, derailing economic growth and saddling governmentsThe Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak since 2020 has had a variety of consequences, exacting a high death toll, swamping medical systems, derailing economic growth and saddling governments with massive debts. The pandemic has also had significant political consequences, facilitating democratic backsliding, shoring up authoritarian regimes, eroding digital and media freedoms and downsizing political leaders. In Japan, for example, PM Abe and Suga lost public trust due to perceptions they mismanaged the outbreak. Regional tensions have escalated due to intense public relations campaigns to assign blame and claim credit from vaccine diplomacy.

About the Speaker

Jeff Kingston is Director of Asian Studies and professor of history at Temple University Japan where he has taught since 1987. He has written and edited a dozen books on Japan and Asia, including Press Freedom in Japan (2017), The Politics of Religion, Nationalism and Identity in Asia (2019), Japan (2019) and Press Freedom in Asia (2020). He is co-editor of Japan’s Foreign Relations in Asia (2018) and the forthcoming Heisei Japan in Retrospect (2021). He also edited a special issue in 2020 for the Asia Pacific Journal Japan Focus on the Pandemic in Asia.