We are now pleased to announce the launch of the working paper series of JSPS Core- to-Core Program (A. Advanced Research Networks), “Research on the Public Policies of Migration, Multiculturalization and Welfare for the Regeneration of Communities in European, Asian and Japanese Societies.”
This is an online publication resource aimed to provide a timely forum for members of the Core-to-Core program to disseminate their “work in progress” regarding the topic.
© Copyright rests with the authors.
Working Paper #7 2022.05.19
A Critical Assessment of "New Cosmopolitanism": Characteristics and Challenges
Mikako SUZUKI
FulltextWorking Paper #6 2021.04.12
How Refugees Imagine and Strive Toward Their Future: The Aspirations and Hardships of South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda
Isao MURAHASHI
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This paper adresses the aspirations and efforts of diplaced people to create new lives and opportunities, taking the South Sudanese refugees in Uganda as an example. Refugees are often perceived as people deprived of agancy and seen as different from "migrants." However, wartime migrants also aim for a "stable, comfortable life" along with self-preservation and security. It is often overlooked that becoming and staying as a refugee is a transformative experience. Migration can lead refugees to seek new opportunities, reshape their future, and become agents of change. This paper demonstrates how South Sudanese youth strive to improve their lives and imagine their futures by presenting the narratives of their daily lives, everyday practices, and livelihoods. Moreover, it takes two South Sudanese refugees as examples. One is an orphan who experienced family loss, repeated displacement, and structural disadvantages. The other became a pioneer migrant, leading his family and community members to escape to Uganda. Both frequently travel in and around their camp, pursing livelihood options in the face of economic challenges. Another way to understand the aspiration of refugees is through the axamination of their preferences in their utilization of photographic images. Refugees ogten prefer utopian or dreamy photographs to "real" images of their lives. Therefore, I discuss how displaced people plan and aspire to a future in the contingent conditions of Ugandan refugee settlements.
FulltextWorking Paper #5 2019.04.16
French Cultural Strategy and the Japanese Example: How Can France Seduce In the 21st Century?
Pierre-William FREGONESE
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French cultural diplomacy used to be among the most powerful, but needed to modernize its strategy in order to maintain an international position. France has a long history of foreign cultural policy and is one of the countries that has placed great importance on disseminating its culture abroad. However, France is being challenged by an emerging international rivalry. A cultural strategy is a crucial component of a State’s overall strategies of power. Establishing a cultural strategy in the 21st century goes through a harmony in the projection of culture of elites and pop culture, but also by considering joint action between public and private actors. Yet Japan could be a model, a paradigm, for France and its cultural action abroad. Besides, both countries are empowering their soft power thanks to mutual spheres of influence and shared inspirations. Several French artists have been raised with Japanese culture through works from japonisme or néo-japonisme movements in accordance with the era, whereas Japanese creators often draw their early inspiration in French productions. In the new century, the real essence of soft power lies in mutual action, and public institutions are becoming only one agent of cultural influence among all the nonstate actors.
Working Paper #4 2019.04.16
Taboos Related to the Ancestors of the Himba and Herero Pastoralists in Northwest Namibia: A Preliminary Report
Kana MIYAMOTO
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This preliminary report summarizes first-hand data on taboos shared by the Himba and Herero pastoralists, living in northwest Namibia. By dealing with taboos related to their ancestors, I aim to clarify the relationship between the pastoralists and their ancestors. In previous studies, the relationship between the Himba and Herero and their ancestors often focused on the gravesite and the commemoration ceremony, which were often drawn from a political context. This paper, on the other hand, will present the relationship with the ancestors and the taboos shared among people. Taboos related to the ancestors can be roughly classified into two types, one related to the patrilineal clan and the other to a specific space called the “holy place” (otjirongo tjizera). Certain patrilineal clans associate with specific areas through the “ancestral shrine” (okuruwo) located inside their homestead. The relationship between the holy place and the patrilineal clan has not been clearly mentioned by people living in the area. Taboos related to the holy place are not limited to a specific patrilineal clan; anyone who is in that place must obey the taboos. However, there have been cases where elders, responsible for the patrilineal clan’s rituals at the ancestral shrine, treated those who broke the taboos inside the holy place. I have examined the relationship of the ancestors and the specific places of the semi-nomadic people, the Himba and Herero.
Working Paper #3 2018.04.13
How Has the European Union Counterbalanced Respect for Multiculturalization with the Protection of European Cultures?
Taro NISHIKAWA
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This article analyzes the approach of the European Union (EU) to the trade and culture debate and its development. Focusing on the potential conflict between the respect for multiculturalization and the protection of European cultures, this paper examines not only the historical background of the EU’s stance on the trade and culture debate but also the clauses regarding audiovisual services in the EU–South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as an example of the EU’s policy development after the adoption of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity). Through these analyses, this article arrives at the following conclusions. First, the EU’s traditional approach in the trade and culture debate was based on the protection of European cultures; this approach was caused by fear of the diffusion of the US Hollywood cinema and by the importance of the audiovisual industry to European identities and unity. Second, since the introduction of the concept of cultural diversity in the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity, the rhetorical focus of the EU’s stance on the trade and culture debate has changed from the protection of European cultures to the combination of the respect for multiculturalization and the protection of European cultures. This new focus of the EU has two guiding principles: the promotion of European cultures and reciprocity. However, given the paucity of actual results of audiovisual co-production through the cultural protocol in the EU–South Korea FTA, it can be argued the EU’s traditional focus on the protection of European cultures continues to dominate its approach mainly because of the EU’s continuing fear of competitive foreign cultural content.
Working Paper #2 2018.03.31
Colonial Powers’ Removal of Indigenous Peoples: Forcibly Resettled North American Navajos and the“Stolen Generation” of Australian Aborigines
Ayane KIMURA
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This paper examines mobility as violence against indigenous peoples within the context of colonial history, offering case studies of North American Navajos and the Stolen Generation of Australian Aborigines. Colonization by Western countries has led to momentous changes in indigenous societies. Forcible removal from motherlands and kin is not an exception, but a typical feature of indigenous societies’ colonial domination. Navajo people have suffered forced relocation twice, once in each of the 19th and 20th centuries. This is particularly egregious because Navajos have a special bond with their land, created by and springing from their distinctive custom of burying the umbilical cord shortly after a child’s birth. Forcible relocation from the motherland thus means eliminating a relationship that the Navajo view as that between mother and child. Another case is the Stolen Generation of Australian Aborigines, who were taken from their original families when they were infants or small children. They were mostly removed from Aboriginal families to assimilate them into “white” society. Most were forced to abandon their culture and learn Western culture and English to be more “white,” but they still experienced racial discrimination. Forcible separation from their original families deprived them of not only their families, but also their culture, language, and Aboriginal identities. These cases illuminate the violence of the mobility imposed upon them by colonial powers. The bondage with ancestral land, and the culture based upon it, is a crucial factor in both cases. Forcible separation from ancestral lands weakens spiritual connections and cultural identities. Further studies of mobility as violence against indigenous peoples would reveal greater detail of the impacts of colonial domination over indigenous societies.
Working Paper #1 2018.02.13
Continuity of Mobility: Canvas Selling by Aborigines in the Central Desert of Australia
Chikako HIRANO
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The purpose of this paper was to consider the mobility of indigenous Aboriginal people in the Central Desert of Australia through the case study of people "selling canvases" for subsistence. Aboriginal people in the Central Desert have experienced rapid social change following contact with the West, especially since the 1967 referendum. As the monetary economy penetrated the Aboriginal society, hunting and gathering as a form of subsistence decreased, and settling in certain aboriginal communities became occurred. However, despite fewer opportunities for hunting and gathering, the mobility of Aboriginal people did not decline. In particular, people selling canvases continued to move as frequently as they had previously. In this paper, the everyday life of the people selling canvases is explored. Furthermore, what supports their mobility is clarified. By examining the process of selling canvases, three factors that supported their nomadic lives emerged: development of means of transportation, introduction of income systems, and sharing between families. Vehicles and income systems have been newly introduced to Aboriginal society as a result of social change in recent years. Meanwhile, sharing within the family, referred to as "demand sharing" is a unique economic system of Aboriginal society. It can be said that Aboriginal mobility is sustained by the interaction between the newly brought on elements of social change as well as the classic way of living handed down by families.
