Soft Power in Taiwan and Japan: Contesting Visions of Culture and Democracy

21.09.2021 16:00 - 17:30

A hybrid u:eastasia lecture by Nissim Otmazgin (Hebrew University of Jerusalem).

| Record |

u:eastasia lectures #1 - Nissim Otmazgin
Soft Power in Taiwan and Japan:
Contesting Visions of Culture and Democracy

| Abstract |

How do Taiwanese and Japanese officials view democracy and culture and how do they plan to utilise these soft power resources as part of advancing their international position? Based primarily on interviews conducted with state officials in Taiwan and Japan, this talk will analyse these countries' attempt to reposition themselves in the global and regional soft power competition. Specifically, this talk will discuss the institutional and geopolitical constrains Taiwan and Japan are facing when trying to implement a soft power policy and address the internal disagreements over utilising their cultural and democratic achievements. In the case of Taiwan, at least, the talk concludes that despite the ability of soft power to assist its international agenda, it faces a few major institutional and conceptual obstacles, keeping Taiwanese diplomacy in a transitional period from old thinking regarding culture and diplomacy while hesitantly evaluating its soft power resources.

| Bio |

Nissim Otmazgin is the incoming Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research interests include soft power and cultural diplomacy in Asia, Japan-Southeast Asian relations, Japanese and Korean media industries, and popular culture and regionalization in East and Southeast Asia. He is the author of Regionalizing Culture: the Political Economy of Japanese Popular Culture in Asia (University of Hawaii Press, 2013), and (together with Miki Daliot-Bul) The Anime Boom in the US: Lessons for Global Creative Industries (Harvard Asia Center, forthcoming).

| Date & Time |

u:eastasia lecture | #1
Tuesday 2021-09-21, 16:00~17:30
max. 300 participants (online) max. 25 participants (live) 

| Place & Registration | 

LIVE @ Campus of the University of Vienna (registration required!)
Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4 (Campus), 1090 Vienna, Austria

Please bear in mind, that strict CoVid-precautions are enforced, therefore
- bring and wear a FFP2-mask,
- provide a proof that you are tested, recovered or vaccinated (3-G rule) and
- register beforehand:
To register for the live event, please send an email to martin.mandl@univie.ac.at with your full name and telephone number.

Please visit these links for university's special and general information regarding the current restrictions.

| Plattform & Link |

... and STREAMED online (no registration required)
https://univienna.zoom.us/j/94612979128?pwd=WnMvWnBLWmdJOEltbXN4c2VHZU9Edz09
Meeting-ID: 946 1297 9128 | PW: 585630

Instructions and Netiquette (in English and German)
How to join a lecture via Zoom Meeting (in English)
Frequently Asked Questions (in English)

| Further Questions? |

Please contact martin.mandl@univie.ac.at.