Contested Collaboration at Boundaries: Transnational Science and Medicine in Cold War East Asia Available to Purchase

Transnational collaborations in Cold War East Asia were shaped by unstable and fragile relationships in politically charged environments. Inherently characterized by power imbalances, the region’s collaborations became sites of both scientific opportunities and contention. Building on collaboration studies that addressed power imbalances, we introduce the concept of “contested collaboration,” to analyze the processes and strategies employed by local actors, especially those on the weaker side, to navigate these imbalances. By focusing on “boundaries,” dynamic sites where geopolitical forces intersect, we explore how marginalized actors shaped collaborations in their local environments. This special issue illustrates experiences of Zainichi (Koreans in Japan) researchers in South Korea mediating Japan-Korean scientific collaboration, US-trained Chinese scientists in the PRC adapting to Soviet scientific paradigms, Hiroshima medical scientists collaborating with the American-led Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, and local actors in Hong Kong sustaining public health amid postwar chaos. For these actors, collaboration was not just a means to pursue scientific/medical goals but also a critical means to negotiate their precarious positions amid political tension. These cases demonstrate how local actors employed adaptive strategies, such as strategic erasure, to manage and sustain their collaborative relationships and also how materials like streptomycin acted as contested resources, shaping collaborations and often bringing unintended consequences. By recovering the overlooked histories of boundaries and shifting our perspective to view the global from the boundaries, we see transnational networks as the outcomes of local actors’ resilience and struggles. This perspective provides a more nuanced understanding of how science has acquired its global face.