| Bemerkung |
The first session will take place in LE 736.
Depending on the class size, it will be moved to LB 137 for the following sessions.
Course Description and Overview
This course looks at the Japanese society through the lens of globalization and its transnational relations with foreigners and foreign societies. On the one hand, Japan’s relative geographical isolation as an archipelago that is surrounded by the sea have cultivated a unique aesthetic culture that attracts people across the world in recent times, as well as being one of the driving force behind its economic development. Yet at the same time, this could also be a critical factor in generating peculiar social system and norms that sometimes create a considerable gap with the “global standards.” Hence in theory, global process would be an agency that shape, reshape and alter social structure in both positive and negative ways. In such context, how does globalization - closer integration of the countries and peoples of the world, especially after the 1980s - affect the change in the contemporary Japanese society? The course will explore this question through reading and discussing about the effect of transnationalism – both inbound and outbound - on Japanese culture, civil society, migration, work, tourism, education, marriage, family, identity among others. The course also introduces theoretical approaches in order to understand globalization and transnationalism.
Course Objectives
This seminar is part of the “Japanese Society and Social Structure” module (AEAS 3). The primary goal of this class is to gain an alternative understanding on Japanese society that could not be seen from looking at the country only from the perspective of nation-state. Taking the transnational and relational approach would then provide us with insights to understand the why and how, as well as in what way Japan is changing in this contemporary era. Students are expected to gain skills and insights to critically analyze Japanese globalization through comparative approach with other East Asian countries, Germany or other regions that you are familiar with. The course also enables you to understand diverse theoretical perspectives for observing and analyzing global and transnational phenomena. |
