Territorial disputes are one of the main sources of tension in Northeast Asia. Escalation in such conflicts often stems from a widely shared public perception that the territory in question is of the utmost importance to the nation. Yet that’s frequently not true in economic, military, or political terms. The tiny and remote islets, known as Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan, for instance, have no such value. Yet citizens and groups in both countries have mounted sustained campaigns to protect them as the heart of the nation. Similar movements are taking place throughout the region and have wide-ranging domestic and international consequences.
Focusing on non-state actors rather than political elites, Alexander Bukh explains how and why apparently inconsequential territories become central to national and nationalist discourse in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. These Islands Are Ours gives us a new way to understand the nature of territorial disputes and how they inform national identities by exploring their social construction, amplification, and ideological consequences.
