Rethinking the Climate Crisis Here and Now: Mahāyāna Buddhism, Engi Relationality, and the Familiar Pitfalls in Japanese and Taiwanese pro-Nuclear Energy Narratives
Climate inaction occurs partly because the ‘problem’ is often perceived as spatially and temporally distant. Contemporary Japanese and Taiwanese pro-nuclear energy narratives stress the necessity of nuclear energy for solving carbon emissions and energy security issues (here) and the urgency to reta...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institute of International Relations Prague
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Czech Journal of International Relations |
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| Online Access: | https://cjir.iir.cz/index.php/cjir/article/view/1800/1650 |
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| author | NAOFUMI YAMADA KLARA MELIN CHING-CHANG CHEN |
| author_facet | NAOFUMI YAMADA KLARA MELIN CHING-CHANG CHEN |
| author_sort | NAOFUMI YAMADA |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Climate inaction occurs partly because the ‘problem’ is often perceived as spatially and temporally distant. Contemporary Japanese and Taiwanese pro-nuclear energy narratives stress the necessity of nuclear energy for solving carbon emissions and energy security issues (here) and the urgency to retain and/or modernize nuclear power generation capabilities (now), despite its known vulnerability. This article deconstructs nuclear energy as a here-and-now solution to the climate crisis, and it proposes Mahāyāna Buddhism as a means to go beyond the modernist beliefs that gave rise to both the climate crisis and the nuclear energy solution. Drawing on Mahāyāna Buddhist thought where subjects are seen as being generated through relations with others (engi) and all beings are inseparable from and intradependent with nature (eshō-funi), we argue that the aforementioned narratives offer a false promise to solve the climate crisis. This is because they ignore the relations between current and future generations, and their techno-national, modernist assumptions reproduce human/nature dichotomies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5a8188b045fa4dcb8e4a2bb280355f22 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0323-1844 2570-9429 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Institute of International Relations Prague |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Czech Journal of International Relations |
| spelling | doaj-art-5a8188b045fa4dcb8e4a2bb280355f222025-08-20T02:34:25ZengInstitute of International Relations PragueCzech Journal of International Relations0323-18442570-94292025-05-01601157186https://doi.org/10.32422/cjir.1800Rethinking the Climate Crisis Here and Now: Mahāyāna Buddhism, Engi Relationality, and the Familiar Pitfalls in Japanese and Taiwanese pro-Nuclear Energy NarrativesNAOFUMI YAMADA0https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6773-4976KLARA MELIN1https://orcid.org/0009-0002-3203-8049CHING-CHANG CHEN2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1720-4723Ritsumeikan University, JapanStockholm University, SwedenRyukoku University and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, JapanClimate inaction occurs partly because the ‘problem’ is often perceived as spatially and temporally distant. Contemporary Japanese and Taiwanese pro-nuclear energy narratives stress the necessity of nuclear energy for solving carbon emissions and energy security issues (here) and the urgency to retain and/or modernize nuclear power generation capabilities (now), despite its known vulnerability. This article deconstructs nuclear energy as a here-and-now solution to the climate crisis, and it proposes Mahāyāna Buddhism as a means to go beyond the modernist beliefs that gave rise to both the climate crisis and the nuclear energy solution. Drawing on Mahāyāna Buddhist thought where subjects are seen as being generated through relations with others (engi) and all beings are inseparable from and intradependent with nature (eshō-funi), we argue that the aforementioned narratives offer a false promise to solve the climate crisis. This is because they ignore the relations between current and future generations, and their techno-national, modernist assumptions reproduce human/nature dichotomies.https://cjir.iir.cz/index.php/cjir/article/view/1800/1650climate changeenergy securityengi relationalityjapanmahāyāna buddhismtaiwantemporality |
| spellingShingle | NAOFUMI YAMADA KLARA MELIN CHING-CHANG CHEN Rethinking the Climate Crisis Here and Now: Mahāyāna Buddhism, Engi Relationality, and the Familiar Pitfalls in Japanese and Taiwanese pro-Nuclear Energy Narratives Czech Journal of International Relations climate change energy security engi relationality japan mahāyāna buddhism taiwan temporality |
| title | Rethinking the Climate Crisis Here and Now: Mahāyāna Buddhism, Engi Relationality, and the Familiar Pitfalls in Japanese and Taiwanese pro-Nuclear Energy Narratives |
| title_full | Rethinking the Climate Crisis Here and Now: Mahāyāna Buddhism, Engi Relationality, and the Familiar Pitfalls in Japanese and Taiwanese pro-Nuclear Energy Narratives |
| title_fullStr | Rethinking the Climate Crisis Here and Now: Mahāyāna Buddhism, Engi Relationality, and the Familiar Pitfalls in Japanese and Taiwanese pro-Nuclear Energy Narratives |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rethinking the Climate Crisis Here and Now: Mahāyāna Buddhism, Engi Relationality, and the Familiar Pitfalls in Japanese and Taiwanese pro-Nuclear Energy Narratives |
| title_short | Rethinking the Climate Crisis Here and Now: Mahāyāna Buddhism, Engi Relationality, and the Familiar Pitfalls in Japanese and Taiwanese pro-Nuclear Energy Narratives |
| title_sort | rethinking the climate crisis here and now mahayana buddhism engi relationality and the familiar pitfalls in japanese and taiwanese pro nuclear energy narratives |
| topic | climate change energy security engi relationality japan mahāyāna buddhism taiwan temporality |
| url | https://cjir.iir.cz/index.php/cjir/article/view/1800/1650 |
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