Carol Gluck speaks at UK-Japan Global Seminar Series

October 13, 2016

Tokyo, Japan

Challenge and Uncertainty in a Volatile World: Japan–UK Perspectives

Overview:

This event was the fourth in a series of five annual conferences on the UK-Japan relationship and opportunities for closer bilateral cooperation.

This year, the conference explored UK and Japanese approaches on the risks and opportunities – political and economic – facing Asia and Europe. Topics included the looming Brexit and the future of the EU, the impact of TTIP and TPP, China’s role in Asia’s regional order and the evolution of national identity in Japan and the UK. The concluding session considered the priority challenges to stability that Europe and Asia will face in the short- to medium-term, outlining possibilities for UK-Japan cooperation.

The UK-Japan Global Seminar Series is funded by the Nippon Foundation and held in partnership with them and the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.

From the Meeting Summary document published here:

Carol Gluck spoke from a historian’s perspective on Japanese nationalism. Emphasizing that populism and nationalism are not the same thing, she noted that nationalism is in fact the key to understanding Japan. Gluck provided two categories of nationalism with regard to Japan: geostrategic nationalism (or ‘Japan is back’ nationalism), which deals with status and stature on the global stage; and patriotic nationalism, which can also be referred to as ‘hate’ nationalism, as witnessed, for example, in the hate speeches involving the younger generation who, alarmingly, do not know the factual truth about their own history. She then reminded the floor that the notion of nation state is going nowhere, and that globalization will remain a trend for the foreseeable future, despite transitions in the world order.”

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