Indoor air as a regulatory object

Abstract

This thesis examines indoor air quality management policies in order to illustrate the dynamic relationship between a regulatory object and regulatory actors. Its analysis of regulatory practices with a focus on regulatory objects shows how the characteristics of indoor air affect indoor air quality management policies. With case studies on the South Korean subway system, this thesis demonstrates that indoor air regulations are differently interpreted and implemented by various regulatory actors. I describe how regulatory actors transform indoor air into a regulatory object through two examples of boundary works: one on subway platforms and the other in subway cabins. Then, by comparing the two cases, I argue that it is important to examine indoor air quality regulation as a process of drawing and redrawing boundaries around the regulatory object.