1st Call for Abstracts (May 2019)
East Asian Regional Conference in Alternative Geography (EARCAG)The 4th Workshop on the Geopolitical Economy of East Asian Developmentalism
Date: November 26 to 28, 2019
(Followed by a field trip to Okinawa from November 29 to December 1)
Venue: The University Media Center, Osaka City University, Japan
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/earcag-gpe2019
E-mail: earcag-gpe@lit.osaka-cu.ac.jp
The Geopolitical Economies of East Asia Research Network in EARCAG (EARCAG-GPE) is pleased toannounce that its 4th workshop will be held at Osaka City University, Japan in November 2019.
Workshop themes
Themes of the workshop include but are not limited to:
Shifting state-territoriality and the reconstruction of
the geopolitical economy in East Asia
On-going de/reterritorialization and re-scaling under globalization and neoliberalism represent
constant shift in state-territoriality that exercises differentiated control over various inter-stateprocesses as a manifestation of spatial fix in the capitalist world economy. Such shift can be seen not
only at the national level but also at the inter- and intra-national levels. This is mainly because various
effects of the capitalist world economy have penetrated our daily life. The geopolitical economy thus(re)constructed in East Asia inevitably has multi-scalar effects on political, economic, social, andenvironmental affairs in the region which need to be explored from various geographical andcomparative perspectives.
De/Re(b)ordering processes for a post-Westphalian stage?
The so-called New World Order, which was expected at the end of the Cold War, has not yet emerged.
What we have seen instead is a series of geopolitical fluctuations, such as ethnic conflicts, nationalist
resurgences, separatist movements, and fundamentalist violence. While globalizing forces facilitate
de-territorializing/bordering processes, there has been an increasing demand for securing theexisting socio-political (b)orders such as national identity, territorial sovereignty, and the inter-statesystem. This, however, does not at all mean that such (b)orders have been intact but that they haveconstantly been made and remade to cope with on-going structural changes in the geopolitical1

economy of the world. The question we can pose is whether or not such de/re(b)ordering processesshow any symptoms for a post-Westphalian stage.
Inter-island liminality as a new aspect of trans-local/border interactions
Unlike the original (anthropological or temporal) meaning of liminality, geographers apply the term
to illustrating spaces which people pass through and/or stay in for transit such as borders, frontiers,
no man’s lands, and airports. In the case of East Asia, there are a number of chains of islands on theeastern fringe of the Eurasian Continent. These islands have both connected and separated different
cultures and societies while being colonized by and decolonized from imperial powers. Such interisland liminality has also become a cause of territorial dispute between neighboring states. However,trans-local/border interactions between the islands (and the continent) have also provided
opportunities for socio-economic development such as border tourism, creating a new milieu fortransnational connectivity.
The reconceptualization and transformation of East Asia inthe context of China’s rise
Since the end of the Cold War, East Asia has become one of the economic growth poles in the world
whose bases were prepared by leading developmentalist states in the region. East Asia consists ofboth continental and maritime states with complex historical backgrounds and interactions.
Geopolitical and geo-economic disparities within the region are also large so that security instability
continues to be an essential component of its regional dynamism. While superpowers such as theU.S. and Russia have been undoubtedly influential, the role of China as well as those of Japan andKorea is becoming crucial in the region. As seen in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, how East Asia isbeing discursively reconceptualized and materially transformed needs to be examined fromgeopolitical economic viewpoints.
Keynote speakers
The following keynote speakers will be invited:
Anssi Paasi (Political Geography, University of Oulu, Finland)
James D. Sidaway (Political Geography, Singapore National University, Singapore)
Wang Hui (Chinese Literature and Intellectual History, Tsinghua University, China)
We are also honored to have a special guest speaker:
Ibrahim Amir (Kurdish exile playwriter, Germany)2Registration & submission
Those interested in the workshop are invited to submit their abstracts and papers according to thefollowing registration/submission guidelines. We also plan to propose a special issue on thisworkshop for an academic journal such as Taylor & Francis’ Geopolitics.
Registration procedures
1. Register yourself and make payment at the workshop website (after the site is ready in June).
2. Submit your abstract and paper at the workshop website as indicated below. Without
payment, neither your abstract nor paper will be accepted.
Abstract format
1. LAST NAME (capitalized), first name middle name
2. Affiliation
3. CO-AUTHOR’S LAST NAME (capitalized), first name middle name4. Affiliation
5. Title of paper
6. Main body of text (no more than 250 words)
Submission deadline: August 31, 2019
Paper format (in an MS Word or PDF file)
1. All session presenters are encouraged to submit their papers to facilitate discussion.
2. There is no standardized paper format but a brief (approximately 10-page) paper would bedesirable.
Submission deadline: November 15, 2019
Contact
If you have any questions about the workshop, please contact the workshop organizer at earcaggpe@lit.osaka-cu.ac.jp

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