PREVIOUS NEWS & EVENTS

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Interested in Borneo or Japan? Interested in meeting students from across the world online to think about culture and social networks but never had the chance?! Then come along virtually on 8th December at 9am UK Time (6pm JST/5pm MYT) to take part in a special event.

We are holding a ‘Virtual Student Exchange’ (VSE) online.

This is going to connect students in Newcastle with their peers at Gakushuin University in Tokyo and the Sabah region of northern Borneo in Malaysia, around themes of lifestyle and culture across borders. We'll be experimenting to map out our shared social space in these very different places. You'll be taking part in a unique experiment, and because we’re using 'simultaneous translation' support, we'll be overcoming any language barriers in real-time. So no preparation or language skills are needed...just bring your curiosity! This is the third time we have held this VSE and students have really enjoyed the experience in the past so please come along and join us, and maybe make some new friends from across  the world in the process. The VSE should last about 50 minutes.

Please come and join us. Please Register here as soon as you can.

This event takes place as part of the Culture, Class, Connection project.  

Niall Cunningham (Geography, Newcastle University) & Shinobu Majima (Economics, Gakushuin University).

OUR PROGRAMME FOR SPRING 2023

Tokyo International Panel Discussion: 'Culture & Inequality' & Kyoto Research Workshop: 'Class in Comparative Historical Perspective: The UK & Japan'

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We are delighted to announce two more events. The first is our forthcoming international panel discussion, the latest event in the 'Culture, Class, Connection' project. This will be a hybrid event hosted by Gakushuin University in Tokyo and you can register via this link. Our distinguished panel will adress the theme of 'Culture & Inquality' in the UK and Japan. The second will be a research workshop from Kyoto. Details are below and you can register for that here.

Wednesday, 22 March 2023 - Tokyo Panel Discussion

09:00~ (UK time) = 18:00~ (Japan time)

Chair: Shinichi Aizawa (Sophia University)

Naoki Iso (Tokyo University of the Arts)

Susumu Ishii (Gakushuin University)

Andy Miles (University of Manchester)

Mike Savage (London School of Economics)

Saturday, 25 March 2023 - Kyoto Research Workshop

Theme: 'Class in Comparative Historical Perspective: The UK and Japan'

英語での報告. Registration link here.

WHEN: Saturday 25 March 2023
WHERE: Online / Live-streaming from Kyoto Campus Plaza

SCHEDULE
16:30
Opening speech

16:35~17:00
Kentaro Saito, Kyoto Sangyo University
"Was/Is there no class in modern/today's Japan?"

17:05~17:30
Andy Miles, University of Manchester
"TBA"

17:35~18:00
Shinobu Majima, Gakushuin University
"Culture and Inequalities in Japan and in the UK: some aspects from 1950s, 1990s and now"

18:05~18:30 
Mike Savage, London School of Economics and Political Science
"Reflections on the project of national comparison in the 21st century"

18:30
Closing speech

2^nd Annual Virtual Student Exchange

We're delighted to announce our second annual 'Virtual Student Exchange' (VSE) for Japanese and UK students on Friday 24th March 2023 9-10am UK Time/6-7pm Japan Time

‌‌This is going to connect students in north east England with their peers at Gakushuin University in Tokyo around themes of class and culture across borders. We'll be generating data on our social networks (who we know), economic resources (what we have) and cultural practices (what we do) to map out our shared social space in these different cities. When you register you'll be asked to fill in a short anonymous survey that will ask you about these. Your Japanese peers have already done this. You'll be taking part in a unique experiment, and because we’re using 'simultaneous translation' support, we'll be overcoming language barriers in real-time. So no Japanese is needed...just bring your curiosity!

Please come and join us. Register here and please complete the quick accompanying data generator by Friday 10^th March.

This event takes place as part of the Culture, Class, Connection: Bridging Debates on Class & Inequality in the UK and Japan project.  

Niall Cunningham (Geography, Newcastle University) & Shinobu Majima (Economics, Gakushuin University).

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PREVIOUS NEWS & EVENTS

We're delighted to announce our first 'Virtual Student Exchange' (VSE) for Gakushuin & Newcastle Geography, Politics & Sociology students on Thursday 16th December 2021 9-10am UK Time/6-7pm Japan Time

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This is going to connect students in GPS with their peers at Gakushuin University in Tokyo around themes of social class and culture in a time of crisis. We'll be generating data on our social networks (who we know), economic resources (what we have) and cultural practices (what we do) to map out our shared social space. When you register you'll be asked to fill in a short anonymous survey that will ask you about these. Your Japanese peers have already done this. You'll be taking part in a unique experiment, and because we’re using 'simultaneous translation' support, we'll be overcoming language barriers in real-time. So no Japanese is needed, or any prior knowledge/study of social class...just bring your curiosity!

Please come and join us. Go to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/newcastle-gakushuin-virtual-student-exchange-tickets-219335798277 to register and complete the survey by this Friday 3^rd December please. This is the last event in our Culture, Class, Connection programme so please help us to go to go out with an end of term bang!

Many thanks,

Niall Cunningham & Shinobu Majima‌

We're bringing leading scholars of social class from around the world into dialogue on the work of EP Thompson and its relevance to Japan/UK labour history.

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About this event

This is the fourth in a series of international events taking place as part of the Culture, Class, Connection: Bridging Debates on Class and Inequality project. The project aims to build research capacity, future collaborations and friendships at a variety of levels between scholars and students at Japanese and British partner universities. We'll be using simultaneous translation again to successfully overcome language barriers. Please register at: Culture & Class: Rethinking E.P. Thompson Tickets, Fri 22 Oct 2021 at 13:00 | Eventbrite. All are welcome.

Panel 1. E. P. Thompson and Japan 13:00~ (UK time) = 21:00~ (Japan time) = 8:00~ (US Eastern time)

1. Andrew Gordon (Harvard University) ‘Some reflections on the Making of the Japanese Working Class’2
2. Hideo Ichihashi (Saitama University) ‘Class, Friendship and a “Capacity for Experience”: Young Workers of the 60’s in Japan’

Panel 2. Class and Historians: The Legacy of E. P. Thompson 14:00~ (UK time) = 22:00~ (Japan time) = 9:00~ (US Eastern time)

1. Mike Savage (International Inequalities Institute, LSE) ‘The working class in the 21st century: dilemmas and possibilities?’
2. Takao Matsumura (Keio University, Emeritus) ‘E. P. Thompson’s “History from Below” and dissemination of “Responsible History”' 

The CCC team are delighted to be able to announce details of an exciting series of online/hybrid international events for the Autumn of 2021. These include a range of activities open to members of the public, the research community and students in both Japan and the UK.

STUDENT PRE-EVENT

Thursday 23 September 2021

Let’s check out our ‘socio-cultural proximity’ (Gakushuin Students Only). An experiement using MCA in contemporary Cultural Class Analysis.

8:00~ (UK time) = 16:00~ (Japan time) ‌

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‌EVENT 1 (OPEN TO ALL)

Public Discussion: ‘Social Class and Social Polarisation in the UK and Japan’

Register via: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/social-class-and-social-polarisation-in-japan-and-the-uk-tickets-169972643753

Thursday, 23 September 2021

10:00~ (UK time) = 18:00~ (Japan time)

Chair: Yuji Genda (University of Tokyo)

Toshiaki Tachibanaki (University of Kyoto, emeritus)

Takehiko Kariya (University of Oxford)

Mike Savage (III, LSE)

 * Hybrid event, livestreamed from a classroom at Gakushuin, interpreted simultaneously

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EVENT 2 (OPEN TO ALL)

International Workshop: ‘Social Class, Regional Inequalities and Historical Change’

Register via: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/social-class-regional-inequalities-and-historical-change-tickets-169987690759

Friday, 24 September 2021

9:00~ (UK time) = 17:00~ (Japan time)

 Panel 1. Regional inequalities in Japan 9:00~ (UK time) = 17:00~ (Japan time)

1. Tomoki Nakaya (Tohoku University): ‘Geographic inequalities in health during the lost decades in Japan’
2. Sebastien Boret (Tohoku University): ‘Dealing with death and social vulnerabilities at times of disasters’
3. Comment: Niall Cunningham

<15-mins tea/coffee break>

Panel 2. Social Class in Contemporary Japan 10:45~ (UK time) = 18:45~ (Japan time)

1. Yoshimichi Sato (Tohoku University): ‘Intra-generational mobility between regular and non-regular employment sectors’
2. David Slater (Sophia University): ‘From stratification to social class: the life and death of “freeter” in Heisei Japan’
3. Comment: Andy Miles

45-mins lunch/dinner break>

Panel 3. Class and gender inequalities 13:00~ (UK time) = 21:00~ (Japan time) = 8:00~ (US time)

1. Nobuko Hara (Hosei University): ‘Dual Deregulation of Labour and Childcare in Japan’
2. Andrew Gordon (Harvard University): ‘Gender, Class and Contingent Labor in Contemporary Japan’
3. Comment: Mike Savage

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EVENT 3

International Workshop: 'Culture and Class: Rethinking EP Thompson'

Friday, 22 October 2021

13:00~ (UK time) = 21:00~ (Japan time) = 8:00~ (US time)

Panel 1. E. P. Thompson and Japan

Andrew Gordon (Harvard University): ‘Some reflections on the Making of the Japanese Working Class’

Hideo Ichihashi (Saitama University): ‘Class, Friendship and a “Capacity for Experience”: Young Workers of the 60’s in Japan’

14:00~ (UK time) = 22:00~ (Japan time) = 9:00~ (US time)

Panel 2. ‘Class and historians: The legacy of E. P. Thompson’

Mike Savage (III, LSE): ‘The working class in the 21st century: dilemmas and possibilities?’

Takao Matsumura (Keio University, Emeritus): ‘E. P. Thompson’s “History from Below” and dissemination of “Responsible History” ’

 * Hybrid event, livestreamed from a hotel room in Tokyo, interpreted simultaneously

EVENT 4

International Digital Student Exchange: 'Exploring Comparative Class and Culture in Young People in a Time of Crisis'

An experiment allowing students from Japan and the Uk to discuss concepts of social and cultural capital in comparative context, generating, modelling and interpreting their own data using MCA. 

Time and date TBC. 

W‌e're really pleased (but also a bit sad!) to announce the last event in our CCC programme. A 'Virtual Student Exchange' (VSE) for Gakushuin and Newcastle Geography, Politics & Sociology students on Thursday 16th December, 9-10am UK Time/6-7pm Japan Time. Students, please see your email for an invitation and registration information.

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Following on from our international workshops and panel discussions last month, we are delighted to announce the third event in our Autumn Programme. Our symposium on the enduring legacy of the late Marxist historian, Culture and Class: Rethinking EP. Thompson, will take place on Friday 22nd October at 1pm UK time/9pm Japan time/8am US Eastern time. Once again, we have assembled a distinguished panel to reflect on Thompson's enduring legacy for shared understandings of contemporary class formation and conflict across borders and cultures. Please come and join us and spread the word on this event which is open to all. Once again we'll also be using simultaneous translation to overcome language barriers. Please register at: Culture & Class: Rethinking E.P. Thompson Tickets, Fri 22 Oct 2021 at 13:00 | Eventbrite

We are sad to have to announce the cancellation of our Manchester event on Friday 21st February owing the ongoing dispute over pay, pensions, workloads and casualisation in the university sector. You can find out more about the dispute here:

https://www.ucu.org.uk/why-we-are-taking-action

Our Newcastle and Japanese events go ahead as planned. Please join us!

It is great to be able to announce details of our event at Manchester University, taking place on Friday 21st February. Come and join us there for what promises to be a gret discussion. Details of registration can be found at this link:

 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/91548404743

Programme:

10.00-10.15: Welcome and project introduction

10.15-11.15: Introductory Lecture

Mike Savage (London School of Economics), ‘Rethinking Class in an era of Escalating Global Inequality’.

11.15-11.30: Break

11.30-13.00: Issues of cultural capital - culture, class and distinction      

Shinichi Aizawa (Sophia University), ‘Social Class in Japan from the view point of cultural capital’.

Andrew Miles (University of Manchester), ‘Everyday participation, class and cultural policy in the UK’.

Comments: David Wright (University of Warwick)

13.00-13.45: Lunch

13.45-15.15: The relationship between economic and cultural capital - work, education and class

Mark Williams (Queen Mary University), ‘Occupational class inequality at work in Britain’.

Takehiko Kariya (University of Oxford), ‘Post-catch-up modernity and hidden inequality in Japanese education’.           

Comment: Shinobu Majima (Gakushuin University)

15.15-15.30: Break

15.30-17.00: Issues of social identity and class consciousness - perspectives and the relationship between 'objective' and 'subjective' class identities

Sarah Irwin (University of Leeds), ‘Subjective inequalities and social structure: class, concepts and methods’.

Ayumi Takenaka (Ritsumeikan University), ‘The Hierarchy of Japanese Identities: constructing nationhood through diasporas’.

Comment: Wendy Bottero (University Manchester)

17.00-17.30: Closing remarks

Alan Warde (University of Manchester), ‘Reflections on class, culture and distinction’.

We are delighted to annouce details of the event to take place at Newcastle University on Friday 28th February 2020. We will be welcoming people from around the world to develop this network. Our confirmed speakers are:  

KEYNOTE: Mary C. Brinton, Reischauer Institute for Japanese Studies, Harvard University

Shinichi Aizawa, Education, Sophia Daigaku, Tokyo

Dimitris Ballas, Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen

Sophie Buhnik, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris/Maison Franco-Japonaise, Tokyo

Roger Burrows, Architecture, Planning & Landscape, Newcastle University

Noriko Cable, Epidemiology & Public Health, UCL

David Chiavacci, Asian & Oriental Studies, University of Zurich

Tony Elger, Sociology, University of Warwick

Janet Hunter, Economic History, London School of Economics

Shinobu Majima, Economic History, Gakushuin Daigaku, Tokyo

Siobhan McAndrew, Sociology, Bristol University 

Ayumi Takenaka, Liberal Arts, Ritsumeikan Daigaku, Kyoto

Eime Tobari, Urban Data Analysis, Cocreatif, London

Please join us for what promises to be a fascinating day! Tickets are free but space is limited and registration is essential:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/culture-class-connection-class-and-inequality-in-the-uk-and-japan-tickets-78151650691 

Our Manchester event will take place at Manchester University on Friday February 21st and information should appear here very soon. Our Japanese events will take place at Kyoto Sangyo University on Saturday 4th April and Hitotsubashi and Gakushuin Universities in Tokyo on Friday 10th and Saturday 11th April. Again, details will appear here very soon so please check back here regularly.