Transnational Publics and Environmental Conflict in the Asian Century

Abstract

Conflict over landscape use, resource access and environmental futures has become a central feature of contemporary political life. Increasingly, these conflicts are articulated, negotiated and potentially resolved across national boundaries and complex networks of media and communications. Within the context of intensifying pressure for resources, market opportunities and changing media practices, this article examines the multi-directional and multi-layered flows of political communication and action that are developing within the Asian region. It outlines a case of recent environmental protests targeted at Japanese and Malaysian companies involved in the procurement and sale of Australian forest products, and reveals how distant supporters are being enabled to join with those affected locally to resist development, end resource procurement and undermine growth strategies.

Framing rhino horn demand reduction in Vietnam: Dismissing medical use as voodoo

“…This dual approach, however, appeared to be problematic in Vietnam because Vietnamese journalists consume the international news media where they would come across critical messages. Critical messages were perpetuated because foreign claims makers did not understand important cultural nuances (Lester, 2014).…”

“…However, she found that negative messaging, was effective at raising awareness internationally. There was consensus among scholars of the importance of culture in framing (Entman, 1993;Anderson, 1997;Lakoff, 2010;Nisbet, 2009;Lester, 2014), while Lester (2014) argued that foreign claims makers sometimes did not understand important cultural nuances. In a finding applicable to audience frames in Vietnam, Hansen (1993) argued that Greenpeace's focus on the environmental problem and not themselves was a factor in their legitimacy.…”

Tracing Environmental Sustainability Discourses: An Australia-Asia Seafood Case Study

“…Given the transnational reality of seafood markets and communication mechanisms, who gets to define environmentally sustainable seafood production and the mechanisms by which they define it is expected to shift with scale. Global risk discourse regarding the environmental sustainability of seafood production and harvest are increasingly encompassing the notions of the "locally affected" and "distant aware" (Lester, 2014). For local communities, environmental impact, or the risk of impact, is a lived experience.…”

“…(Beck, 2011(Beck, : 1349. This is exemplified by Lester (2014) describing where an Australian Environmental Non-Government Organisation (ENGO) launched a decade-long campaign persuading Japanese corporations that Tasmanian forestry companies and products were unsustainable. Simultaneously, direct action activism was occurring at the site of forestry practices.…”

“…The transnational flow of investment, resources and information is expected to increase and congregate in the Asian region. Lester's (2014) research into Australia's White Paper on the trade of goods and services in the Australia-Asia region, Australia in the Asian Century (Commonwealth of Australia, 2012), suggests that:…”