Tohoku University’s Human Security Summer School
Tohoku University’s Human Security Summer School
International Post-Graduate Program in Human Security
Introduction
The idea of a human security has been around already for more than fifteen years. Following the rather basic principle of keeping people on the center of attention, different society stakeholders accepted the challenge of giving human security a try. Since then, a considerable mass of general reports, discussions, criticisms, rebuttals, empirical research, case studies, etc., have been made public, shedding light over many possible ways to put the idea into practice. Most of the authors of these works acknowledge that the starting point was rather flexible/ambiguous and, in consequence, it is evident that making sense of the multiple views converging under the ‘human security’ umbrella is a daunting task. Yet, symptoms of exhaustion on the initial supporters of the concept, as well as new trends on the academic circles, are signaling the emergence of a second generation of studies, and it is precisely efforts consolidating the experience so far the ones that will make the difference framing the future of security at local, national, and global levels.
This September the Japan Association of Human Security Studies (JAHSS) is to be launched, an organization that epitomizes this new generation of efforts around the concept. It involves many renowned scholars and institutions that have experimented with human security since its early proposition, who agree on the necessity of promoting exchanges between concerned actors and, in this way, preparing the new generation of researchers to move ahead of the curve in the study and application of the concept. Tohoku University’s Human Security organizes this year’s Summer School as a prelude to the JAHSS, its first annual conference and the creation of its electronic peer-reviewed journal, offering the opportunity to meet first-hand experiences of leading scholars about the challenges of engaging with human security studies.
Date
September 12th, 13th and 14th (Monday to Wednesday).
Venue
Tohoku University, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Ecollab. Access: http://www.kankyo.tohoku.ac.jp/map.html
Program
Monday 12h: Climate change as a human security issue
13:00 to 14:30 – Professor Des Gasper, ‘Climate change and human security’
14:40 to 16:20 – Professor Hiroshi Ohta, ‘The Interlinkage of Climate Security and Human Security: The Convergence on Policy Requirements’ (tentative title).
16:30 to 18:00 – Panel discussion.
Tuesday 13th: How do we study human security?
10:20 to 10:30 – Opening remarks, Professor Dinil Pushpalal, Representative coordinator of the International Post-Graduate Program in Human Security of Tohoku University.
10:30 to 12:00 – Professor Des Gasper, ‘The Idea of Human Security’.
13:00 to 14:30 – Professor Michio Umegaki. ‘Human Security for empirical research’.
14:40 to 16:20 – Panel discussion.
Wednesday 14th: Migration: a threat or a solution?
10:30 to 12:00 – Professor Des Gasper, ‘Migration and human security’
13:00 to 14:30 – Professor Tatsuo Harada, ‘Human or Public: The Referents of Security in Discourses on Migrants in Japan’.
14:40 to 16:20 – Panel discussion.
Short bio of the presenters:
Des Gasper: Professor of Human Development, Development Ethics and Public Policy, at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS-EUR), The Netherlands. His areas of interest include: ethics of development; international migration; theories of human development, human security, human needs and well-being; policy discourse analysis; climate change.
Hiroshi Ohta: Professor, School of International Liberal Studies, Faculty of International Research and Education, Waseda University. His interests are International Relations, Global Environmental Politics, and Japanese Foreign Policy.
Michio Umegaki taught at Georgetown University, Department of Government before joining Keio University in 1990. His research topics include: US-Japanese relations, Japanese foreign policy and politics. After joining Keio, he found himself deeply involved in the affairs of Southeast Asia, with critical views toward development economics. He has completed long term research in northern Thailand on families who are victims of AIDs; another on the families of Agent Orange victims in Vietnam; and still another, which is currently in progress, on the impact of agrochemicals on the environment and health.
Tatsuo Harada: Professor of International Political, Economy at the College of International Studies, Chubu University; research associate at the York Centre for International and Security Studies (YCISS), York University (2003); project director at the Chubu Centre for Human Security Studies (CHS) (2006-2008); head of Department of International Relations, Chubu University (2009). He won the second NIRA Okita Commemorative Award for Policy Research by the National Institute of Research Advancement as a contributor to the book: Yoichi, Mine; Sachiko, Hatanaka (Eds.): Zouo kara Wakai e [From Hatred to Accommodation] (Kyoto: Kyoto University Press, 2000). He focuses on post-development studies, human security and migration.
Supporting materials (provisional list)
Climate change as a human security issue
Gasper, D., 2010. ‘Climate change and the language of human security’, Research Paper ISS Working Paper Series / General Series 505. (Available at: http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/19843/ )
Ohta, H., 2010. ‘The Interlinkage of Climate Security and Human Security: The Convergence on Policy Requirements’, paper prepared for FA65: Climate Change: The Implication for Security, ISA Annual Convention, New Orleans. (A previous version is available at: http://www.fasid.or.jp/daigakuin/sien/kaisetsu/gaiyo21/lecture02.html )
Ohta, H., 2010. ‘Japanese Climate Change Policy: Moving beyond the Kyoto Process’, in Hans G. Brauch et al., Coping with Global Environmental Change, Disasters and Security: Threats, Challenges, Vulnerabilities and Risks. Berlin: Springer, 1381-1391.
Ohta, H., 2008. ‘A Small Leap forward: Regional Cooperation for Tackling the Problems of the Environment and Natural Resources in Northeast Asia’, in Timmermann, Martina and Tsuchiyama, Jituso (Eds.), Institutionalizing Northeast Asia: Regional Steps towards Global Governance. New York: United Nations University, 297-315.
How do we study human security?
Gasper, D., 2009. ‘Global Ethics and Human Security’, in Globalization and Security: an Encyclopedia, eds. H. Fagan & R. Munck.Praeger: Westport, CT. (A previous version is available at: http://publishing.eur.nl/ir/repub/asset/17953/3Global%20Ethics%20and%20Human%20Security-Jun09.doc.).
Gasper, D., 2010. ‘The Idea of Human Security’, In Karen O’Brien, Asuncion Lera St.Clair and Berit Kristoffersen (eds.) Climate Change, Ethics and Human Security. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 23-46. (A previous version is available at: www.unhistory.org/reviews/Garnet_HumanSecurity.pdf )
Umegaki, M ., Lynn Thiesmeyer, and Atsushi Watabe (eds.), 2009. Human Insecurity in East Asia. Tokyo: UNU. (The introduction is available at: http://archive.unu.edu/unupress/2009/humanInsecurityEastAsia.html )
Umegaki, M., 2010. ‘The “Uninvestigated”: Human Security Research for a Political Scientist’, Perspectives on Global Issues (online journal) 4(2). (Available at: http://www.perspectivesonglobalissues.com/archives/spring-2010/political-scientist/)
Migration: a threat or a solution?
Gasper, D. and Thanh-Dam Truong, 2010. ‘Movements Of The ‘We’: International and Transnational Migration and the Capabilities Approach’, Research Paper ISS Working Paper Series / General Series 495. (Available at: http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/22353/ )
Gasper, D., 2011. ‘International Migration, Well-being and Transnational Ethics’, in Thanh-Dam Truong & Des Gasper (eds.) Transnational Migration and Human Security. Dordretch: Springer, 259-71. (Abstract available at: http://www.springerlink.com/content/x70452723xv64654/ )
Harada, T. and Kenji Kimura, 2011. ‘Human or Public: The Referents of Security in Discourses on Migrants in Japan’, in Thanh-Dam Truong & Des Gasper (eds.) Transnational Migration and Human Security. Dordretch: Springer, 225-38. (Abstract available at: http://www.springerlink.com/content/p425650111160556/)
Organizers
The International Post-Graduate Program in Human Security of Tohoku University is supported by four schools: Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Graduate School of Medicine, and Graduate School of Environmental Studies.
Language
English (no Japanese translation).
Participation & Accommodation
The Summer School is open to the public, and free of charge (with the possible exception of a reception on the first day to be confirmed), however, participants should arrange their own accommodation. On Monday we start from 1 pm in order to allow students coming from other regions to reach Sendai on the same day. Yet, for those interested, our city holds its famous Jozenjidori International Jazz Festival on the weekend just before the Summer School, a great opportunity to see other facet of Sendai and support the recovery of the region. The information is in the following web page: http://www.j-streetjazz.com/
Registration deadline & Contact
Please register before the 5th of September by email to the address below; include your name, position, affiliation, phone number and the days you plan to attend.
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