Preface by Kim Fortun | 來自Kim Fortun的開場白

"I’m a cultural anthropologist with long-running research that examines the social, cultural, political, economic, health and environmental impacts of the petrochemical industry -- an industry which today is both accelerating in some directions, and losing standing and profitability in others.  It is thus crucial that people with different kinds of expertise and experience help watch over the industry, aware that consequential decisions will be made in coming years -- decisions about how problems created by the industry in the past will be addressed; about whether petrochemical production should be expanded, and -  if so -  where; about laws that regulate the industry and about the ways regulatory enforcement will be handled; about how plants that are aging or no longer profitable will be have special oversight and possibly be decommissioned.

These decisions will have fateful impacts in diverse plant communities, working through diverse national regulatory regimes but all within a planetary frame. There is thus a need to organise at all scales, linking people across geography, and generation, linking university researchers and students to impacted communities, activists, journalists, artists and government representatives  who share commitment to inclusive prosperity and planetary  health. This is why it is so important that you have come to this exhibition and to the work of the Formosa Plastics Global Archive, where you can help identify questions that need to be asked, data that needs to be collected and analyzed, arguments that need to be made, and strategies that might work in effort to mobilize positive change.

Formosa Plastics is an important player in the global petrochemical industry. It is a good focus for your work. The Formosa Plastics Global Archive design team has been careful and creative in their work so far, and look forward to your feedback.  I’m eager to hear how the exhibition goes, and about the roles you can imagine playing in civic oversight of the petrochemical industry in the future.  Very best wishes from southern California."

Kim Fortun, Professor
Department of  Anthropology
University of California Irvine

我是一位文化人類學家，長期研究石化產業對文化、政治、經濟和環境的相互影響。當今石化業於特定方向正加速發展，而在部分方向則失去原有的利基。因此，極其重要的是，具有不同專長和經驗的人員應幫助監督整個行業，並關注與商討下述面向的幾個重要決策，如：有關如何解决該行業過去所造成問題的決策、是否應擴大石化產品的生產、（若有）應在哪生產、如何規範相關行業的法規及法規執行處理方式的資訊、老化或不再盈利工廠的監管如何受監督、以及其退場機制等等。

這些决定將通過不同的國家監管制度，對不同的社群產生重大影響，但仍在全球框架内。因此，需要進行各種規模的組織，連結各個地理區域的跨世代的人們，以及將研究者和學生與受影響的社區、行動者、新聞工作者、藝術家和政府代表一同連結起來。他們共同致力於包容他者的多樣性，以及維護地球的健康。這就是為何參與本展覽，以及台塑全球檔案館的工作如此重要的原因。因為在這裡，人們可對相關議題進行提問，共享數據的收集與分析、討論即將要下的結論，以及參與可能有助於積極動員變革的可行策略。

台塑是全球石化行業的重要參與者，人們應該關注它的發展。到目前為止，台塑全球檔案館的設計團隊，在工作中一直非常謹慎且富有創造力，並期待蒞臨參與者的回饋。我很想聽聽展覽的進行情况，以及您對於公民在石化行業監督治理中所能扮演的角色與想像。

來自南加州的誠摯祝福。

Kim Fortun教授
加州大學爾灣分校人類系