9th RIHN Tokyo seminar
Global Environment and Democracy: Learning in the Anthropocene II

Date & Hours: Saturday, January, 27, 2018, 10:00 - 17:00 Flyer
Venue: 21 Komaba Center for Educational Excellence, Komaba Campus, The University of Tokyo
( →Access)
Organizer: Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
Co-organizer: Integrated Human Sciences Program for Cultural Diversity, The University of Tokyo(IHS)
Title: Global Environment and Democracy: Learning in the Anthropocene II
Languages: Japanese
  YouTube Live (Japanese)

OBJECTIVE

When we think about the environment, on scales ranging from our neighborhoods to the entire Earth, democracy is one way to involve "everyone" in discussions and in making choices about the future. But, who is "everyone"? If it is not clear, democracy can sometimes lead to struggles. From small discussions on topics such as the landscape of a town to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, it all comes down to the question of whether "everyone" can make "correct" choices about the environment. Moreover, if the rules with which we think about things change, what is "correct" will also change, and the struggle will further intensify.

It is said that we have entered a new geological era called "Anthropocene", in which the influences of human activities are widely spreading throughout the Earth's surface (atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere and biosphere). When thinking about the future of the global environment, "everyone" goes beyond nations; it crosses generations as well as species. In this seminar, through the keynote speech by Mr. Koichiro Kokubun, a philosopher, and the workshop based on the various research results of graduate students and young researchers, we will discuss and seek to answer who is “everyone" and what is "correct". Furthermore, questioning the way in which we think about the future of the Earth’s environment, we will think about ways of designing the future that subsume the struggle of democracy.

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