18History/Area StudiesStudy of Nationhood in Contemporary Africa: New Media, Globalization, and DemocracyProject term: April, 2012–March, 2015Coordinator: NAITO, Naoki (The University of Tokushima)This project considers the possibilities for African states and civil societies by examining issues related to state formation or reformation in Africa and surrounding areas. The project will focus primarily on three domains related to state crises and (re)formation: 1) the rise of new media such as mobile phones and the Internet; 2) the inuence of the global economy and transnational economic activities; and 3) political or social movements such as democratization and indigenous movements. The project will compare ethnographic data related to the above-mentioned domains and consider the diverse nature of the nation-state in the context of globalization.Reconsidering Intermediate Social Groups in Premodern South AsiaProject term: April, 2012–March, 2015Coordinator: OTA, NobuhiroThis project aims at reconsidering the roles and functions of various intermediate groups in South Asia during the pre-colonial period. It investigates how these groups were formed and developed in their respective historical contexts. It has been pointed out that in premodern South Asia there were various intermediate social groups enjoying a certain degree of autonomy and independence, such as villages, unions of villages («regional communities»), cities, merchant associations, religious orders or cults, and «castes». By paying special attention to the conflicts and negotiations among the groups and between these groups and their states, the project will arrive at a new understanding of the historical development of South Asian society. It examines various types of social groups of premodern South Asia and seeks to reveal the diversity in the forms of societal ties underlying their formation and integration by making comparative studies of different groups. Study on the Relationship between Agriculture and Culture in Sub-Saharan Africa from Historical PerspectivesProject term: April, 2010 – March, 2013Coordinator: ISHIKAWA, HirokiWith the economic depression of Sub-Saharan Africa becoming an international crisis, the need for greater expertise in agriculture, which is a key industry in most of the region, becomes urgent. In Japan, a great deal of effort has been made by researchers of agriculture, anthropology, and agricultural economics to study the agriculture of Sub-Saharan Africa, and these researchers have obtained good results in the last few decades. In this project, researchers of the disciplines and historians will jointly examine the relation between agriculture and culture in Sub-Saharan Africa from historical perspectives. The goal of this project is to explore a new eld of study on agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa by emphasizing subjects related to staple food crops. There remain numerous unsettled historical questions about these crops even though they have had an important role socially and culturally in Sub-Saharan African societies.The Formation of Cultural Areas in East and Southeast Asia: the Tay Cultural Area and Other AreasProject term: April, 2011 – March, 2014Coordinator: DANIELS, ChristianPast research on the Tay Cultural Area (TCA) has emphasized the influence of the surrounding pre-modern and modern states of Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and Vietnam. With respect to China, research has mainly concentrated on the relationship of the TCA with Yunnan and Guangxi provinces. Researchers have tended to examine the ethnic groups, cultures, and languages within the framework of continental Southeast Asia. The TCA connects with the Chinese, Tibetan, and Mongol worlds to the north, and with the maritime world of the Bay of Bengal in the south.This project will analyse the history, cultures, and languages of the TCA from the macro-perspective of a north-south axis. The principle purpose is to clarify how the history, cultures, and languages of the TCA changed with contact and interaction between ethnic groups and political regimes located both north and south. This principle purpose Joint Research Projects
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