Course description:
The topic of the module Institutions and Organizations in Japan in the Sommer Semester 2021 is international migration in contemporary Japan.
Due to the uncertain COVID-19 situation, all the courses will be held online/via Zoom.
The module sheds light on international migration issues in Japan, and how migration is framed, conditioned and structured in the country where is regarded now as ‘immigration country’ (e.g. Liu-Farrer 2020) despite the reluctance to implement official migration policies. The course beings with academic literature of migration study (in Asia) from sociological perspectives and provides some contexts of how the migration study/literature is positioned in sociology. The emphasis will shift to different issues/topics of international migrations in Japan, in particular from the 1990’s, which is regarded as a beginning of ‘contemporary’ migration in Japan. In this context, we will look at how the country shifts (and does not shift) in this period, and how different types of migrants live, survive and work in this country.
One part of the module taught by Aimi Muranaka will share theory and research on international migration in the social science, with a special focus on Japan/sociology.
The second part of the module taught by Karen Shire will focus on development of student research papers, which relate to some dimensions of migration in Japan (in Asia). Some courses will be scheduled as a joint-session (e.g. student presentations of their topics), and this will be notified in Moodle course message board. The course requirement, a research paper of 15 pages, can be developed further as an exposé for an MA thesis.
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