• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.283-303
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• 2016

The concept of a risk society, which was originally suggested by German sociologist Ulrich Beck, is insufficient to reveal how a certain risk materially and discursively unfolds on the ground and how its various dynamics are recognised by diverse actors because of the concept's spatial insensitivity. As an alternative approach, this paper introduces the concept of the riskscape, which was suggested by German geographer Detlef $M{\ddot{u}}ller$-Mahn, and analyses this concept in the context of the East Asian developmental state. It is meaningful that the East Asian developmental state thesis has strongly promoted the role of the state in stimulating national economic development in underdeveloped countries. However, it should also be noted that an active state role in encouraging modernisation and economic growth within a very short time produces consequences of what Beck calls 'manufactured risks', such as nuclear power plants. Therefore, it is essential to analyse the state in comprehending modernisation and the risk society in East Asia. More specifically, using the case of the location policy for nuclear power facilities, this article reveals how dominant social forces acting in and through the state constructed a national riskscape that minimises the gravity of local risks while prioritising the economic value of the national economy over local risks to produce rapid modernisation. Additionally, it is argued that a dominant national riskscape may become weak from competing with different riskscapes that are constructed based on contingency factors (e.g., political democratisation or a natural disaster). Based on these analyses, the article emphasises that interdisciplinary research using the concept of the riskscape is required to better explain the risks in East Asia.