1st Edition
Pandemic, States and Societies in the Asia-Pacific, 2020–2021 Responding to COVID
Hawksley and Georgeou bring together scholars and practitioners from across the region to analyse the main effects of the first two years of the COVID pandemic in a range of case studies from Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and Oceania.
The book provides a broad survey of how Indonesia, Bangladesh, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Nepal, Australia, Cambodia, Taiwan, and New Zealand attempted to manage the COVID pandemic; the challenges they faced; and how they fared. Drawing on insights from politics, economics, sociology, law, public health, education, and geography, most authors are nationals of the cases they discuss. Written in non-specialist language, ten case studies are examined, providing a useful analysis of the first two years of COVID in the Asia-Pacific from the emergence of COVID in January 2020 to the lifting of restrictions in December 2021. Chapters focus on different issues according to the scholar’s academic expertise, and a wide diversity of national pandemic experiences, challenges, and responses are showcased.
An essential read for scholars and students interested in the areas of Asia-Pacific politics, sociology, and public health.
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1 Pandemic, States and Societies in the Asia-Pacific 2020–2021: Responding to COVID
Charles Hawksley
Nichole Georgeou
Chapter 2 Indonesia’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic: from herbal cure-alls to a science-based response
Yohana Susana Yembise
Rob Goodfellow
Chapter 3 Pandemic, migrant workers and the economy of Bangladesh
Mamta B. Chowdhury
Chapter 4 Japan: Moralised politics in countering COVID-19
Yukiko Nishikawa
Chapter 5 Making sense of the behavioral restrictions and institutional controls: the Philippine COVID-19 experience
Leslie A. Lopez
Jessica Sandra R. Claudio
Dennis B. Batangan
Joselito T. Sescon,
Haraya Marikit C. Mendoza
Chapter 6 Vietnam: COVID-19 in Vietnam
Toan Dang
Chapter 7 Nepal: pandemic and unusual state response
Uddhab Pyakurel
Supriya Gurung
Chapter 8 Australia and COVID 19: Cracks in the Commonwealth
Charles Hawksley
Nichole Georgeou
Chapter 9 Taiwan: how COVID-19 sharpens Taiwanese identity
Tse-Min HUNG
Chapter 10 Cambodia: the thin line between development and human rights during
COVID-19
Natalia Szablewska
Muy Seo Ngouv
Ratana Ly
Chapter 11 Aotearoa New Zealand: is the grass really greener here? Social, political and cultural implications of COVID-19 in New Zealand
Christina Ergler
Nichole Georgeou
Sarah Lovell
Bob Huish
Conclusion
Biography
Charles Hawksley is Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Studies at the University of Wollongong (UOW), Australia. Charles holds a PhD in politics from UOW. His research on the politics of the Asia-Pacific has appeared in Third World Quarterly, Rethinking Marxism, and Global Change Peace and Security.
Nichole Georgeou is Associate Professor in Humanitarian and Development Studies at Western Sydney University, Australia. Nichole holds a PhD and an MA (Research) from UOW in development sociology. She is the author of Neoliberalism, Development and Aid Volunteering (Routledge) among many other publications.
