{"id":6052,"date":"2025-07-25T18:30:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T18:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/earc\/?p=6052"},"modified":"2026-04-29T18:18:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T18:18:42","slug":"ultra-low-birth-rate-in-east-asia-care-crisis-discourses-and-collaborative-responses-ncta-online-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/earc\/ultra-low-birth-rate-in-east-asia-care-crisis-discourses-and-collaborative-responses-ncta-online-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Ultra-Low Birth Rate in East Asia: Care, Crisis Discourses, and Collaborative Responses – NCTA Online Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this one-day program, we examined Japan\u2019s declining birth rates<\/strong> through the lens of \u201ccare\u201d (kea, \u30b1\u30a2) and the evolving discourse of \u201cwho cares\u201d that gained renewed attention in the aftermath of the 3.11 disaster and the COVID-19 pandemic. With guidance from Professor Andrea Gevurtz Arai<\/a>, we explored how these conversations have centered on reproductive labor in the home, described by some as the “nerve center of the production of labor power,” and how moments of crisis, including irradiation and infection, have intensified the pressure on gendered expectations of continuous caregiving.<\/p>\n

Participants learned how feminist demographers and scholars have analyzed the division and devaluation of this reproductive labor, particularly in the context of economic recession and neoliberal reforms since 1999. These conditions have not only made caregiving unsustainable for many, but have also become the object of active refusal.<\/p>\n

Together, we also considered two key consequences of these intersecting conditions and debates. First, we explored how crisis discourse around low birth rates, often omitting the topic of reproduction itself, has spurred feminist collaborations across East Asia. Second, we focused on emerging scholarly and activist efforts to link care with broader questions of democracy, anti-war movements, and environmental justice.<\/p>\n

This program invited participants to engage with the ideas of eco-feminists such as Nancy Fraser and eco-socialists such as Kohei Saito, whose work highlights the connection between gendered and ecological forms of extraction, both indispensable and systematically disavowed. As we discussed, there are no contemporary politics without considering both gender and the environment.<\/p>\n

Date and Time<\/h3>\n

Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM (Pacific Time).
\n<\/strong>This program was held on Zoom.<\/em><\/p>\n

Program Benefits<\/h3>\n