The Challenge of Air Pollution Governance: The Case of Taiwan

• In Event: Air Pollution Governance: Sites, Styles, Histories

Abstract

Air pollution problems are extremely complex and controversial due to the different "scientific" rationales adopted by the various fields to explain the causes. To understand the air pollution problems, we need the following information/ knowledge generation: 1. pollutants from the source of the emissions, 2. diffusion path simulation, and 3. the affected and changing status of the receptor. However, there are still some intervals in connecting different parts of knowledge. As a result, it has become extremely challenging for the government to introduce effective solutions.
This paper, through the perspectives of risk society, regulatory science and environmental governance, examines Taiwan's civic anti-air-pollution initiatives, which have been widely organized in central and southern Taiwan against industrial pollutions. The citizen mobilization has raised the risk perception of the society and contributes to the government's actions. This paper analyzes the certain and uncertain knowledge of air pollution that constructed by the civil society, and further discusses how those initiatives highlight the difficulties and limitations in clarifying and solving the uneven risk distribution problems of air pollution. By examining the different claims, arguments, and knowledge forms proposed by the numerous roles involved in the air pollution controversies, this paper will also reflect on the limits of the current scientific benchmarks or risk assessments. In conclusion, the paper highlight the important to incorporate STS perspective and social science-oriented methodology into air pollution prevention and control strategies.

Author

• Wen-Ling Tu, National Chengchi University