Dear Colleagues,

 

I am very happy to announce that two new books that might be of interest to members of this list have been published in the Cambridge Elements in Politics and Society of East Asia series that I co-edit.

 

Both are available for FREE DOWNLOAD until February 12^th.

 

The Welfare State in East Asia--Joseph Wong

Summary

During the postwar period, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea emerged as industrial and democratic exemplars in the East Asia region. A less well-known story is of their equally remarkable achievements in social policy reform and the formation of welfare states. Section 1 of the Element provides an overview of welfare state deepening in Japan, Taiwan and Korea and an account of why and how the developmental states institutionalized the social insurance model. Section 2 examines the drivers of social welfare universalization in Japan, Taiwan and Korea, notably the importance of democratization. Section 3 focuses on emerging challenges to the East Asian welfare state and how it has adapted. Though Japan, South Korea and Taiwan evolved their welfare states in a distinctive way historically, the current challenges they face and their responses have converged with other developed, post-industrial democracies.

  

Refugee Politics in East Asia--Petrice Flowers

 

East Asia stands apart from the rest of Asia in the prevalence of the institutionalization of the 1951 Refugee Convention. Despite this widespread adoption of the Convention in East Asia, the record on implementation into domestic law and policy is uneven. This Element offers a comparative analysis of the gap between the institutionalization of the Refugee Convention and the implementation of refugee policy in China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, and Mongolia. Specific attention is given to two key policy issues: refugee status determination--deciding who is granted government recognition as a refugee--and complementary forms of protection--protection based on statutes other than the Refugee Convention. This Element demonstrates that implementation of the Refugee Convention in East Asia depends on a vibrant civil society with the space and opportunity to engage with local UNHCR offices, local branches of international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs), and other stake holders.

 

Happy reading!

 

Best regards,

Mary Alice

 

Mary Alice Haddad
Chair, Department of Government

John E. Andrus Professor of Government

Professor of East Asian Studies
Professor of Environmental Studies 
Wesleyan University