The ninth session of the Global Studies Seminar series “Challenges in Global Studies” “Connecting and Comparing the Different: Thinking between Area Studies and Development Studies”
Speaker: UKEDA Hiroyuki (Professor at Department of Advanced Social and International Studies, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences)
Moderator: KOKUBUN Koichiro (Department of Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences）
Discussant: TANABE Akio (Department of Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences)
DATE Kiyonobu (Department of Area Studies, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences)
To learn more about the Global Studies Seminar series “Challenges in Global Studies,” click here.
【Report】
The ninth session of the Global Studies Seminar series “Challenges in Global Studies” took place on Tuesday, January 19th, 2021. Professor Hiroyuki Ukeda (Professor at Department of Advanced Social and International Studies, Division of Social and International Relations, the University of Tokyo) gave a lecture titled “Connecting and Comparing the Different: Thinking between Area Studies and Development Studies.”
Ukeda began by introducing the different faces of Mexico: “Mexico of the technocrats” represented by its high level of economic development and its membership in NAFTA, “multicultural Mexico of the peasant farmers” seen in the active indigenous movements, and “Mexico of the outlaws” indicated by its heavy reliance on informal economy. He then gave four concrete examples of the approaches and principles he has consistently developed and embraced in his research in order to bridge between these diverse aspects of Mexico.
First, with regard to the provision of development aid to the indigenous population, his research showed how the reduction of poverty and the successful political autonomy of the indigenous people are highly dependent upon the role of the intermediator between the local community and the external society, as an example of which he mentioned teachers of indigenous language schools. Next, with regard to the informal sectors that function as the site of illegal yet tacitly approved economic activities, Ukeda’s research brought to light the ways in which the brokers mediating between the government and the poor make possible the informal redistribution of wealth. Moving onto the topic of drug cartels and violence, Ukeda conducted a comparative case study between popular pop songs in Japan and Mexico, with the aim of uncovering the prevailing norms and mores within and surrounding the cartels. Finally, as his current phase of research, he is conducting a cross-national study of the prospective role of local communities in nurturing utopia-driven social movements, looking into the cases of EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation) in Mexico and the Yamagishi Movement in Japan.
Ukeda emphasized that these case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of comparing and combining data of different qualities and conducting a comparative study of what look like disparate cases, which in turn, he argued, would lead on to the re-evaluation of NGOs, local communities and social movements. From the perspective of global studies, Ukeda stated that each of “the different faces of Mexico” introduced in his talk carries a global dimension, gaining increasing relevance in today’s society. Ukeda also made reference to UTokyo’s academic interactions with universities in the Spanish speaking world run by LAINAC (Latin American & Iberian Network for Academic Collaboration), calling for the need to further promote dialogues between Asian Studies and Latin American Studies.
Ukeda’s lecture was followed by comments and questions from moderator Akio Tanabe (Department of Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences) and discussant Kiyonobu Date (Department of Area Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences). Tanabe, first of all, argued that delving into the informal world to which the majority of people belong is of utmost importance, and yet, the question then is how to connect such world to the formal world, including the academia, that in reality assumes hegemony. He also pointed to the similarities between the standings of the informal economies in Latin America and India, suggesting that there are resemblances to be found between EZLN and India’s Maoists in their rejection to enter globalism and to partake in the world of technocrats, instead advocating for the protection of individual lives and values. Date, acknowledging the importance of relativizing the global standard from a regional perspective, asked further about the significance of “gambling” in the context of Latin American economy. He also addressed the need to attend to both the possibilities and dangers of religious movements, which, he underlined, could constitute a focal point for critically examining today’s gap-widening society.
The comments led to an intense discussion with the audience. The seminar brought to light the effectiveness of the perspective to compare and connect the different, which Ukeda has shown in sharing his experience of his elaboration to complementarily bridge the disciplinary differences of Area Studies and Economics.
【TAKAHASHI Akane (Graduate Student at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences)】
【translated by ELLIS Naomi (Ph.D. Student at the University of California, Los Angeles)】