Culture, Class, Connection: Bridging Debates on Contemporary Inequality in the UK and Japan
Lead Research Organisation:
Durham University
Department Name: Geography
Abstract
This proposal will build a network of scholarship between the UK and Japan with a long-term focus on the development of a shared understanding of social class and how it might best be used as a tool to address one of the greatest challenges to sustainable development the world faces today: rising social and economic inequality. We are aware of the role of geography here, for whilst north-south income inequalities may be easing at the global scale due to the rapid growth of economies like those of China and India, [F1], within both countries it is clear that such uplifts are highly uneven [F2;F3]. Likewise, in advanced economies like the UK, USA and Japan, we have long been aware of socio-economic inequalities between regions, but only now are we being faced with the profound political consequences of them.
In the first instance the proposal provides the means to bring together academics working on these issues in the UK and Japan in the Core team of PI (Cunningham) and CO-Is (Majima, Miles, Savage and Slater). It will then provide the resources for a programme of meetings in different parts of Japan and the UK that will allow the opportunity for us to engage a much wider body of scholars to exchange knowledge on different aspects of class structure and identity today. We will hold five exchange workshops across two periods in early-2019 and early-2020. Each will provide the opportunity for the involvement of one prominent keynote of international stature from a third country and five national thematic specialists, in addition to a wider open audience of participants. Our themes and leaders are: (i) Class, inequality and the lifecourse (Slater); (ii) Consumption and histories of class formation - (Majima); (iii) Cultural value, cultural practice, class and inequality - (Miles); (iv) Class and spatial divisions of inequality - (Cunningham); (v) Globalising debates on class and inequality - (Savage).
Bringing together leading scholars of social class and inequality around these themes will provide the basis for the development of a robust and extensive research network between the two countries. This network will act to bridge the current divide identified by the ESRC between academics working in these fields, leading to dynamic new research collaborations. A specific goal is to use this connectivity funding as a launchpad for a large-scale comparative investigation of social class in Japan and the UK today, using survey, interview and ethnographic methods, that follows on from the GBCS project and its best-selling monograph, 'Social Class in the 21st Century'. The success of the GBCS project model as a starting framework for this collaboration indicates that there is very strong potential to produce new research findings that will be of keen interest not only to the academic community but also to the general public, think tanks, policymakers and the private sector. The findings will also be relevant to those working in the charitable and third sectors, dealing with issues of everyday social exclusion.
We have assembled a team with a diverse skillset and experience base, ranging from Co-Is in both the UK and Japan with global reputations in the field of culture, stratification and identity to a PI who is an ECR with a developing international profile in contemporary and historic inequality. This is a truly inter-disciplinary group, spanning geography, sociology, history and anthropology. Its members have expertise in working with and across a range of methodologies, from geographical information systems and statistics to archival, interview and ethnographic methods. In addition to the network we intend to build in this proposal, we can also draw on professional webs which span all continents, with the potential to push the reach of this proposal well beyond the Japan-UK axis.
In the first instance the proposal provides the means to bring together academics working on these issues in the UK and Japan in the Core team of PI (Cunningham) and CO-Is (Majima, Miles, Savage and Slater). It will then provide the resources for a programme of meetings in different parts of Japan and the UK that will allow the opportunity for us to engage a much wider body of scholars to exchange knowledge on different aspects of class structure and identity today. We will hold five exchange workshops across two periods in early-2019 and early-2020. Each will provide the opportunity for the involvement of one prominent keynote of international stature from a third country and five national thematic specialists, in addition to a wider open audience of participants. Our themes and leaders are: (i) Class, inequality and the lifecourse (Slater); (ii) Consumption and histories of class formation - (Majima); (iii) Cultural value, cultural practice, class and inequality - (Miles); (iv) Class and spatial divisions of inequality - (Cunningham); (v) Globalising debates on class and inequality - (Savage).
Bringing together leading scholars of social class and inequality around these themes will provide the basis for the development of a robust and extensive research network between the two countries. This network will act to bridge the current divide identified by the ESRC between academics working in these fields, leading to dynamic new research collaborations. A specific goal is to use this connectivity funding as a launchpad for a large-scale comparative investigation of social class in Japan and the UK today, using survey, interview and ethnographic methods, that follows on from the GBCS project and its best-selling monograph, 'Social Class in the 21st Century'. The success of the GBCS project model as a starting framework for this collaboration indicates that there is very strong potential to produce new research findings that will be of keen interest not only to the academic community but also to the general public, think tanks, policymakers and the private sector. The findings will also be relevant to those working in the charitable and third sectors, dealing with issues of everyday social exclusion.
We have assembled a team with a diverse skillset and experience base, ranging from Co-Is in both the UK and Japan with global reputations in the field of culture, stratification and identity to a PI who is an ECR with a developing international profile in contemporary and historic inequality. This is a truly inter-disciplinary group, spanning geography, sociology, history and anthropology. Its members have expertise in working with and across a range of methodologies, from geographical information systems and statistics to archival, interview and ethnographic methods. In addition to the network we intend to build in this proposal, we can also draw on professional webs which span all continents, with the potential to push the reach of this proposal well beyond the Japan-UK axis.
Planned Impact
The long-term objective of this proposal is to develop an international, comparative and collaborative re-mapping of class structures and processes in two advanced economies that will have profound social, economic and cultural impacts. This application is the vital first step in that process and we therefore foresee multiple impacts being delivered for different constituencies over time.
The impact arising out of this initial project will be largely academic and of primary benefit to scholars working across a range of disciplines identified above. These groups will benefit through the thematic structure of our workshop activities. Each of our workshops will explore a different theme within the wider framework of social class and inequality. The foci of these five workshops will be: i) consumption and histories of class formation; ii) class and the lifecourse; iii) cultural value, participation and inequality; iv) class and spatial inequality; v) globalising debates on class and inequality. This structure is designed to enable us to target a range of different academic audiences. Each of our academic constituencies will benefit in a number of ways. Firstly, by providing a platform for the dissemination of new knowledge this project will have a conceptual impact in influencing and reframing academic understandings of class and inequality. Secondly, through the development of networks we will build capacity by acting to stimulate research activity and interaction between scholars working around our five themes. Thirdly, the impact of our activities on academics in the UK and Japan is designed to cut across the career structure by targeting both established and emerging contributors within theme specialisms, with support for ECRs/PhD students provided in the form of bursaries for attendance at the five workshops. ECRs and PhD students in particular will benefit through the opportunity to develop presentation skills and research profiles before distinguished and professionally relevant audiences.
We will push the impact of this network-building grant beyond the academy by opening up one of the sessions to a general audience. We have budgeted for the inclusion of a major international keynote speaker to contribute to each of our workshops and these will be chosen according to their experience of engaging with both expert and non-specialist audiences. In the longer term these project activities will establish the foundation for original, large-scale comparative research that will capture the public imagination while influencing policymakers and third sector organisations concerned with social inclusion, the mitigation of inequalities and democratic renewal. As was the case in the UK, we foresee our findings as of relevance to a very wide range of constituencies: policy makers, civil servants and strategic planners, analysts and practitioners in public health, private enterprise and the general public. We are excited by this potential but we have learned from the unforeseen impacts of our previous research in two key ways. Firstly, we will ensure that the implications of any new models are curated in a way that takes account of the implications of classification for everyday citizens and how such knowledge exists as a form of 'knowing capitalism' [F5]. Secondly, our longer-term research agenda will involve an explicit element of 'co-production' that will involve close engagement with public and third sector organisations in both the UK and Japan that can inform, enhance and promote the portability of our models.
The impact arising out of this initial project will be largely academic and of primary benefit to scholars working across a range of disciplines identified above. These groups will benefit through the thematic structure of our workshop activities. Each of our workshops will explore a different theme within the wider framework of social class and inequality. The foci of these five workshops will be: i) consumption and histories of class formation; ii) class and the lifecourse; iii) cultural value, participation and inequality; iv) class and spatial inequality; v) globalising debates on class and inequality. This structure is designed to enable us to target a range of different academic audiences. Each of our academic constituencies will benefit in a number of ways. Firstly, by providing a platform for the dissemination of new knowledge this project will have a conceptual impact in influencing and reframing academic understandings of class and inequality. Secondly, through the development of networks we will build capacity by acting to stimulate research activity and interaction between scholars working around our five themes. Thirdly, the impact of our activities on academics in the UK and Japan is designed to cut across the career structure by targeting both established and emerging contributors within theme specialisms, with support for ECRs/PhD students provided in the form of bursaries for attendance at the five workshops. ECRs and PhD students in particular will benefit through the opportunity to develop presentation skills and research profiles before distinguished and professionally relevant audiences.
We will push the impact of this network-building grant beyond the academy by opening up one of the sessions to a general audience. We have budgeted for the inclusion of a major international keynote speaker to contribute to each of our workshops and these will be chosen according to their experience of engaging with both expert and non-specialist audiences. In the longer term these project activities will establish the foundation for original, large-scale comparative research that will capture the public imagination while influencing policymakers and third sector organisations concerned with social inclusion, the mitigation of inequalities and democratic renewal. As was the case in the UK, we foresee our findings as of relevance to a very wide range of constituencies: policy makers, civil servants and strategic planners, analysts and practitioners in public health, private enterprise and the general public. We are excited by this potential but we have learned from the unforeseen impacts of our previous research in two key ways. Firstly, we will ensure that the implications of any new models are curated in a way that takes account of the implications of classification for everyday citizens and how such knowledge exists as a form of 'knowing capitalism' [F5]. Secondly, our longer-term research agenda will involve an explicit element of 'co-production' that will involve close engagement with public and third sector organisations in both the UK and Japan that can inform, enhance and promote the portability of our models.
| Description | This grant was heavily impacted by industrial action within the higher education sector, and much more significantly, by the global pandemic. Extensions to the grant as a result and the transfer of the PI to another institution mean that the return information falls under the period in which the grant was held at Newcastle University. Please refer to that return for detailed information on the grant activities and outcomes. |
| Exploitation Route | Please see the associated record return for this grant from August 2019-December 2021 at Newcastle University. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy |
| Description | This networking project is at an early stage of development and as yet, most of the activities proposed are yet to take place. These have also been significantly disrupted by the ongoing dispute in the higher education sector, and more recently by the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus outbreak in the spring of 2020 which has resulted in the complete cancellation of our series of Japanese events, scheduled to take place in April 2020. As we write, the situation is very unclear but the escalation of the crisis in Japan has meant that we have had no sensible alternative other than to cancel these workshops with a view to re-organising them in approximately one year's time, on the condition that such an extension will be granted by the funding bodies in response to the present situation. Notwithstanding this, the programme of events has generated interest with the potential for significant future social and cultural impact with the Japanese national broadcaster NHK, investigating the possibility of a documentary on the theme of social class, which has resulted from both the publicity generated around the proposed programme of events and the recent translation of our co-authored volume, Social Class in the 21st Century, published in Japan as ????? (7 Classes). The book has recently been favourably reviewed in the major Japanese Sunday broadsheet, the Asahi Shimbun, and it is anticipated that such publicity will be very beneficial in enhancing the project's impact when we hopefully come to rescheduling these activities in early-2021. However, as the situation stands and with so much of the project activity yet to take place, it is logical that the vast bulk of any anticipated impact is yet to come. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
| Description | 'Newcastle-Gakushuin 2nd Virtual Student Exchange' (Closed Student Event) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Building upon the success of our previous experiments (EVENT VI: Economic History Graduate Seminar: 'Exploring Contemporary Class and Consumption Using MCA') in November 2020 and EVENT XI: 'Class & Culture in a Time of Crisis: Newcastle-Gakushuin Virtual Student Exchange' we wanted to maximise the continue to maximise and extend impact of the grant by providing a further opportunity for undergraduate students from our home institutions in the UK and Japan to engage directly with one another around the central themes of the grant. In this 2nd 'Virtual Student Exchange' event, undergraduates from Gakushuin University in Tokyo and Newcastle University used MIRO collaborative software and simultaneous translation in order to speak and work directly with one another workshop-style, considering the resonances and differences between them in their patterns of consumption and to think about how these related to wider conceptions of class and inequality. They did so in the context of a backdrop of uncertainty and restriction as a result of the global pandemic, but the feedback from the event indicated that they found this to be a uniquely enjoyable and rewarding, if challenging experience. We aim to make this an annual event and to use it as an opportunity to strengthen institutional ties between our universities going forward. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2nd-annual-newcastle-gakushuin-virtual-student-exchange-tickets-55665... |
| Description | 'Newcastle-Gakushuin-Borneo 3rd Virtual Student Exchange' (Closed Student Event) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Continuing and extending the collaboration beyond the UK-Japan axis, we held a further Virtual Student Exchange event in December 2023, this time including participants from Northern Borneo, whom we were able to involve through a related project of Co-I Majima. The workshop followed a similar and successful format to previous sessions providing a further opportunity for undergraduate students from our home institutions in the UK and Japan to engage directly with one another and with students from the Sabah region of Northern Borneo around the central themes of the grant. In this 3rd 'Virtual Student Exchange' event, undergraduates from Gakushuin University in Tokyo, Newcastle University and Sabah again used MIRO collaborative software and simultaneous translation in order to speak and work directly with one another workshop-style, considering the resonances and differences between them in their patterns of consumption and to think about how these related to wider conceptions of class and inequality. Specifically, they focussed critically on barriers to cultural engagement and how this related to wider structural inequalities in their societies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://conferences.ncl.ac.uk/culture,class,connection/ |
| Description | EVENT II: 'Culture, Class, Connection: Bridging Debates on Class and Inequality in the UK and Japan' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In February 2020 we hosted an in-person international workshop at Newcastle University, immediately before the pandemic hit the UK with full intensity. The workshop drew approximately 50 attendees and we recruited leading scholars from around the world in order to consider themes of class and culture in comparative context. Below is the full programme of themes and panellists. Our keynote speaker, Professor Mary C. Brinton, Head of the Reischauer Institute for Japanese Studies at Harvard University, had to withdraw at short notice due to medical advice on long-distance travel in the context of the pandemic. The audience was made up of people primarily from the higher education sector, with a smaller proportion of individuals who were drawn from general or personal interest. 11:30-1:10: Panel 1: Class Relations and Class Connections: Historical Contexts and Contemporary Inequalities Janet Hunter, London School of Economics, Japan and Britain: Connections and Comparisons David Chiavacci, University of Zurich, Looking for a New Social Contract: Social Inequalities and Social Cleavages in Contemporary Japan Tony Elger, University of Warwick, Evolving class relations in Japan: reflections from western debates about Japanese Employment and Production Systems 1:50-3:30: Panel 2: Unequal Lives - The Everyday Costs and Implications of Class and Inequality Shinichi Aizawa, Sophia University, Comparative sociological analysis of ability and examinations in the United Kingdom and Japan Noriko Cable, University College London, Social norms and collectivism in Japan Shinobu Majima, Gakushuin University & Siobhan McAndrew, University of Bristol, Consumption inequalities and cultural distinction in Japan and Britain Ayumi Takenaka, Ritsumeikan University, The Hierarchy of Japanese Identities: constructing nationhood through diasporas 3:50-5:30: Panel 3: Locating Class & Inequality - Measuring, Mapping and Meaning: Ontologies and Implications Dimitris Ballas, University of Groningen, Happiness, social cohesion and socio-spatial inequalities Sophie Buhnik, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris/Maison Franco-Japonaise, Tokyo, The spatial dimensions of inequalities in "post-growth" Japan: what can we know? Roger Burrows, Newcastle University, You are where you go! Spatial Big Data and the Locative Turn in Contemporary Geodemographic Technologies Eime Tobari, Cocreatif, London, Engaging Data for Social Value and Challenging Inequalities |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://conferences.ncl.ac.uk/culture,class,connection/ |
| Description | EVENT IX International Workshop: 'Social Class, Regional Inequalities and Historical Change' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Our next engagement activities were a pair of public-facing events, with a panel discussion and International Workshop in late-September. There was considerable interest in these events, particularly in the Panel Discussion of 23 September which drew an audience of 100, approximately half of whom were from a general or non-academic background. Interest in the event had been fostered in part by the prime-time screening of a documentary by Japanese national broadcaster NHK, entitled Capitalism of Desire. This documentary featured project Co-I Mike Savage and also included graphics on class inequalities in the UK by project PI Niall Cunningham. The programme aired to a nationwide audience at 10pm on 1st January 2021, the country's most important national holiday. The one-day international workshop drew a further 50 attendees, with a greater share from an academic background - in the order of 75%. 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 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 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 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | EVENT VI: Economic History Graduate Seminar: 'Exploring Contemporary Class and Consumption Using MCA' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | On 20 November 2020, Co-I and PI Cunningham participated in an online graduate seminar for economic history students at Gakushuin University. This was an experiment in how we could use remote methods and simultaneous translation techniques in order to apply and interpret advanced statistical and visualisation methods in real time. The students discussed the results of analysis of data they had gathered and processed using a Bourdieusian 'capitals' approach to social class. The students used MIRO collaboration software in order to discuss their results. The session was highly effective and we decided to use the technologies modelled in this pilot session as the basis for another event involving a wider body of undergraduate students from Tokyo and Newcastle planned for later in the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | EVENT VII: Student Pre-Event: 'Let's check out our socio-cultural proximity. An experiment using MCA in contemporary Cultural Class Analysis.' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | In early 2021, when it became clear that too much uncertainty remained around the potential for an in-person programme, the decision was taken to move events to an online/hybrid format. Between September and December 2021 we organised a further five events as part of the project. These were hosted and organised by our partner institutions in Tokyo - Gakushuin and Sophia, but drew both attendees and participants from around the globe. Our first event in the revised programme was an online experiment (closed seminar) for students at Gakushuin University for which they generated data on their backgrounds, social networks and cultural practices, analysing these using Multiple Correspondence Analysis. We used part of our funding from the ESRC to provide 'simultaneous translation' services. This was highly effective in allowing us to overcome language barriers as it enabled speakers to participate in their own language and have their input translated by our technical team. Approximately 40 students participated in this event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | EVENT VIII: Panel Discussion: 'Social Class and Social Polarisation in the UK and Japan' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Thursday, 23 September 2021 10:00~ (UK time) = 18:00~ (Japan time) Chair: Yuji Genda (University of Tokyo) Panelists: Toshiaki Tachibanaki (University of Kyoto, emeritus) Takehiko Kariya (University of Oxford) Mike Savage (III, LSE) Our next engagement activities were a pair of public-facing events, with a panel discussion and International Workshop in late-September. There was considerable interest in these events, particularly in the Panel Discussion of 23 September which drew an audience of 100, approximately half of whom were from a general or non-academic background. Interest in the event had been fostered in part by the prime-time screening of a documentary by Japanese national broadcaster NHK, entitled Capitalism of Desire. This documentary featured project Co-I Mike Savage and also included graphics on class inequalities in the UK by project PI Niall Cunningham. The programme aired to a nationwide audience at 10pm on 1st January 2021, the country's most important national holiday. The one-day international workshop drew a further 50 attendees, with a greater share from an academic background - in the order of 75%. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | EVENT X: 'Culture & Class: Rethinking E.P. Thompson: A Public Symposium' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Our last public event was a symposium re-visiting the work of late Marxist historian E.P. Thompson and considering his legacy for understandings of class and culture in the UK and Japan. This was a very successful and popular session, again drawing a wide international and non-academic audience, not just from the partner countries but across the globe. Geographical mapping of the locations and affiliations of participants at our events gives a graphic indication of the global reach of the project. Note that this is a visualisation based purely on the UK registrations, so the Japanese registrations are likely to indicate stronger regional participation in East and South-East Asia. The gap in participation from many counties in the Global South is noted, and this has informed the focus of our related project funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (see 'Further Funding' section for details here). In total, we had an audience of 150 people for this event, with two-thirds registering through the Japanese portal. This event was the most 'public-facing' of all of that we had organised, with non-academics representing over half of attendees at the event and people coming from a range of professional backgrounds such as planning, local government and the media. Our speakers were engaging in real-time across very different time zones using simultaneous translation and the event truly encapsulated the global reach and objectives of the project. 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"' |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | EVENT XI: 'Class & Culture in a Time of Crisis: Newcastle-Gakushuin Virtual Student Exchange' (Closed Event) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 16th December 2021 09:00~ (UK time) = 17:00~ (Japan time) Building upon the success of our initial experiment (EVENT VI: Economic History Graduate Seminar: 'Exploring Contemporary Class and Consumption Using MCA') in November 2020, we wanted to maximise the reach of impact of the grant by providing an opportunity for undergraduate students from our home institutions in the UK and Japan to engage directly with one another around the central themes of the grant. In this 'Birtual Student Exchange' event, undergraduates from Gakushuin University in Tokyo and Newcastle University used MIRO collaborative software and simultaneous translation in order to speak and work directly with one another workshop-style, considering the resonances and differences between them in their patterns of consumption and to think about how these related to wider conceptions of class and inequality. They did so in the context of a backdrop of uncertainty and restriction as a result of the global pandemic, but the feedback from the event indicated that they found this to be a uniquely enjoyable and rewarding, if challenging experience. The following are verbatim comments from UK students on the event, Thank you for this morning, it was really fun! If there are any more events in the future I would love to take part. Thanks also to Shinobu and the students at Gakushuin University. Thank you so much for organising the meeting. It was a great experience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Invitation to speak at 'Online International Lecture Series on Social Inequality', Tohoku University, Japan |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Project Co-Is Shinobu Majima and Mike Savage were invited to give a talk at Tohoku University, Japan as part of their 'Online International Lecture Series on Social Inequality' as a direct follow-up to events we had held in Autumn as part of the 'Culture, Class, Connection' project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.ggi.tohoku.ac.jp/news20211227.html |
| Description | Invited Seminar on Health Inequalities in the UK at Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Cunningham gave a talk on his research on health and regional inequalities in the UK, during comparisons with Japan and stressing the need for greater comparative research. This paper presented on the findings of our research on the relationships between local area economic trajectories in Scotland and individual mental health across the period of austerity following the Great Financial Crisis. It also drew on an associated paper co-authored by Cunningham on related work in England using the 'Understanding Society' dataset to explore relationships between individual mobility, changes in self-reported mental health and local area conditions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Public Event - 'Culture & Inequality: The Post-War British & Japanese Experience' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This is a public panel discussion hosted by Gakushuin University on the theme of 'Culture & Inequality' with leading experts from the UK and Japan. This is a hybrid event, with approximately 75 participants currently registered and the number growing at the time of submission. 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) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://peatix.com/event/3504783/view?k=2f5b91e5752642828d69c32e6c33289c98ccd154 |
| Description | Seminar on 'The Public-Private Divide' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | PI Cunningham delivered a seminar to postgraduate students and academic staff in Economics and History at Waseda University in Tokyo. The paper was a response to Avner Offer's recent critique of private finance initiatives (PFIs) and other such instruments. The paper drew on the UK experience of marketization but sought to make connections with the Japanese experience in recent decades. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | TV Programme - Japanese National Broadcaster NHK: 'Capitalism of Desire' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interest in the project in Japan has also been generated by the prime-time screening of a documentary by Japanese national broadcaster NHK, entitled Capitalism of Desire. This documentary featured project Co-I Mike Savage and also included graphics on class inequalities in the UK by project PI Niall Cunningham. The programme aired to a nationwide audience at 10pm on 1st January 2021, the country's most important national holiday. The broadcaster's details are here: Channel: [BS1] Friday, January 1, 2021 10:00 pm-11: 50 pm (110 minutes) Genre: Documentary / Culture> Society / Current Affairs Program content: 'Unstoppable, unstoppable, desires give birth to desires, capitalism of desires. The gap that Corona widens. What is the essence of the problem? Where is the exit?' Casting: Robert Shiller, Emmanuel Todd, Daron Acemoglu, Jonathan Haskel, Glen Weil, Mike Savage, Kenji Hashimoto, Seki Obata, Chotaro Morita Details: Economic and social disparities are increasing and now being fixed in the world. The tide is swallowing Japan as it happens. It is predicted that the proportion of low-income households will rise, and that the middle class will disappear. What is the social turmoil caused by the loss of the middle class? Wealth-creating rules have shifted to post-industrialization. Where did we make a mistake? Economic conflict causes social unrest. What's happening now? The program captures the transformation of capitalism and dissects the problems of social structure. In the uncertain world situation, the journey to solve the sense of obstruction of societies will begin with the world's foremost intellectuals. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.nhk-ondemand.jp/goods/G2020111846SA000/ |
| Description | UK-Japan Collaborative Research Workshop (Japanese Event V): 'Class in Comparative Historical Perspective: UK and Japan' ?????? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | ABOUT: This workshop is one of a series of events taking place in Japan and the UK as part of our ESRC-JSPS networking grant (2019-2021) designed to build research relationships and collaborations between the UK, Japan and beyond. You can find out more about us and our activities at our website: https://conferences.ncl.ac.uk/culture,class,connection/ 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 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://peatix.com/event/3507254/view?k=e6d16c9ae4cf69d37429589116c3aa5d89e761d7 |
| Description | Undergraduate Fieldtrip to Izu Penninsula and Meetings with Local Stakeholders |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | PI Cunningham participated in a two-day student retreat to the Izu Penninsula, south of Tokyo. Here, he engaged with students and a variety of stakeholders around issues of bilateral and uneven development in East and South-East Asia. The retreat was supported by the local government office who hosted our workshops and talked with staff and students around issues of rural decline and socio-economic regeneration. As part of the retreat, visits were made to an organic farm and an area of sustainable energy production. Cunningham met and spoke with local business people encouraging small-scale economic redevelopment aimed at regenerating the locality through tourism and inward migration facilitated by remote technologies and emergent flexible working practices. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Undergraduate Workshop on Cultural Capital and Inequality |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | PI Cunningham participated in a class on cultural capital and inequality, sharing insights from research in the UK and the Great British Class Survey. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |