Plenary Session II (10:00 -12:00)  @Room 163

Presentation of the book

Human Security and Empowerment in Asia: Beyond the Pandemic

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Aim of this Session:

The initial two years of the COVID-19 pandemic brought considerable setbacks to our global development and challenged our understanding of human security. As we successfully overcame these multiple and interconnected uncertainties, it became crucial to reassess the holistic approach to human security by exploring the interplay between protecting and empowering different vulnerable groups and populations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. While much of today’s human security literature focuses on the concept of protection from states, there is still a need for new perspectives on the human security concept by exploring empowerment from theoretical and practical perspectives. In examining empowerment, we reconsider the agency of vulnerable populations in dealing with multiple insecurities, especially posed by the pandemic.

 

JICA Ogata Research Institute’s research on “Human Security and Practices of Empowerment in Asia” examines eight case studies from Southeast Asia and Japan to demonstrate the importance of empowerment in enriching our understanding of human security. These studies brought considerable learnings in operationalizing human security, incorporating a broad range of complex situations and typologies of actions, as well as protection and empowerment actors (global, national, and local; public and private; community, religious, developmental, and political) from the diverse human security issues experienced and confronted by vulnerable groups and communities.

 

On the occasion of the JAHSS 2023 Annual Conference, the book editors and authors invite JAHSS members to the presentation of the book “Human Security and Empowerment in Asia: Beyond the Pandemic” and discuss the lessons from key human security issues such as poverty, environmental security, food security, and gender, all of which have been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, participants will reflect on the future of human security research in the region beyond the pandemic.

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Moderator: Lisette Robles (JICA Ogata Research Institute)

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Opening remarks and short introduction of the book

Human Security and Empowerment: Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World

Mely Caballero-Anthony (Nanyang Technological University)

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Case Study Presentations

Urban Poverty during Covid-19 in Vietnam Case Study: Ma Lang-Dong Tien Neighbourhood, Ho Chi Minh

Vu Le Thao Chi (Keio University)

Food Security and Disaster Displacements Under COVID-19 in Indonesia: Social Protection and Empowerment Measures?

Jonatan A. Lassa (Charles Darwin University)

COVID-19 and Plastic Pollution in the Citarum River

Arisman (Center for Southeast Asian Studies, CSEAS)

From Vertical to Horizontal Empowerment of Women (in) Peace and Security: Towards a Feminist Perspective of Human Security

Ma. Lourdes Veneracion (Ateneo de Manila University)

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Insights on Human Security Research in Asia

Yoichi Mine (Doshisha University/JICA Ogata Research Institute)

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Remarks from commentator and  Q & A

Discussant: Yukiko Nishikawa (Doshisha University)

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Closing Remarks

Sachiko Ishikawa (Ritsumeikan University)