LEAM 2022
17TH LODZ EAST ASIA MEETING “REGIONAL ORDER IN (POST)-PANDEMIC ASIA”
On June 27-28, 2022, the 17th edition of the Lodz East Asia Meeting (LEAM) conference took place. This scientific meeting organized by the Department of Asian Studies of the University of Lodz and the Center of Asian Affairs of the University of Lodz had a hybrid formula - some researchers came to Lodz and took part in the sessions at the Faculty of International and Political Studies, while others were connected online.
The 17th edition of the conference entitled "Regional order in (post)-pandemic Asia" was an opportunity to exchange knowledge and conduct multi-threaded discussions, which have always been a valuable point of the LEAM conference. Considering the dynamically changing situation on the international arena and numerous challenges related to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the discussions focused on the political, economic and social situation of Asian countries at the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century. The starting point was to reflect on the development of the regional order in Asia and the impact of the epidemic on the changes taking place. Moreover, it was considered to what extent this "new normality" in which we live as nations and states influences international politics. An important thread in the discussion was undoubtedly also the Russian invasion on Ukraine and its consequences for the international order, also for Asian states.
The conference inaugurating lecture was given by Prof. Bart Dessein, full professor at the Faculty of Languages and Cultures at the University of Ghent. He is the chairman of the research group East Asian Culture in Perspective: Identity, Historical Consciousness, Modernity. His research concerns, inter alia, modern and contemporary history of China, Chinese political philosophy, and New Confucianism.
The keynote speaker's speech became the starting point for discussions during plenary panels, special sessions and thematic sessions. Political and economic changes in the Eastern Hemisphere have been the subject of a plenary debate on "Post-pandemic Sino-American reconfiguration in East Asia". Its participants were outstanding scientists - Prof. Robert G. Sutter (Elliott School of International Relations), Prof. Zhu Zhiquan (Bucknell University) and Prof. Dominik Mierzejewski (University of Lodz). The panel was led by Grzegorz Stec (MERICS).
Bearing in mind that not only nation states shape contemporary world politics, during the second plenary session entitled "Paradiplomacy in and with Asia" scholars discussed the importance of cities and regions as significant, albeit sub-state, actors on the global stage. The debate was attended by Prof. Tomasz Kamiński and Dr. Joanna Ciesielska-Klikowska (both form the University of Lodz) and Dr. Anna Rudakowska (Tamkang University in Taiwan).
Moreover, during the conference there were sessions of meetings with the authors of important scientific books that have been recently published. The guests of LEAM were Prof. Andrei P. Tsygankov (San Francisco State University), Prof. Glenn Diesen (University of South-Eastern Norway), Prof. Beata Bochorodycz (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań), and Prof. Bogdan Góralczyk (University of Warsaw).
In addition to plenary panels and special sessions, almost 50 scientists from around the world presented the results of their latest research as part of thematic panels, which concerned, among others, the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic for the politics, economy and societies of Asian countries; the war in Ukraine and its implications for the international order in Asia; the Indo-Pacific region in the politics of world powers; changes in India's foreign and domestic policy; as well as the importance of Japan in contemporary international relations.
