SLC New Colleagues Research Seminar Series | Exploring Modernity’s Pillars: Critical Reflections on Japan through Outcaste and Development Studies
SLC New Colleagues Research Seminar Series
Exploring Modernity’s Pillars: Critical Reflections on Japan through Outcaste and Development Studies
Dr Timothy Amos (Japanese Studies)
Friday 21 April 2023, 4–5:30pm AEST (Sydney time)
Abstract
Historian of modern Japan Carol Gluck once noted that two of the key “intertwined themes in the global history of modernity” are “development” and “emancipation” (1997: 566). My research to date has primarily focused on the history of emancipation and liberation in Japan, usually framing it comparatively with India and other parts of Asia and the world. The research has been motivated by a desire to better understand the similarities and differences experienced by various outcaste groups through modern transformative processes that removed various estate-based constraints of premodern life and promised individuals the ability to attain greater freedoms in relation to movement, ownership, belief, and more (Amos 2011, 2020). My recent research, however, has turned to the study of development/alism, the second great theme of modernity identified by Gluck. It attempts to understand how a series of technological advances at the economic, political, cultural, and social levels came to be commonly interpreted and normatively internalized as essential drivers of prosperity and well-being for peoples across Japan and more broadly Asia. This talk introduces and discusses both dimensions of my past and present work, emphasizing the importance of the deconstruction of historical processes and understandings associated with particular notions of freedom and progress which have come to captivate and dominate our visions of Japan.
About the speaker
Dr Timothy Amos completed his PhD in East Asian history at the Australian National University in 2006. Prior to coming to Sydney, he taught Japanese Studies / Japanese History at the National University of Singapore. His main area of expertise is the history of minority groups in Japan, with a special focus on Burakumin. He has written two monographs that cover both the early modern and modern historical dimensions of these communities. Some of his research also involves a comparative analysis of the experiences of these communities (comparative caste studies) as well as study of the transnational dimensions of their activities. He is also interested in researching and writing histories that meaningfully connect to the study of these communities, including religious/intellectual, material, and animal histories.
SLC New Colleagues Research Seminar Series
This series of new colleagues’ lectures is presented by the SLC Research Committee to welcome newcomers in research positions. Presentations allow school colleagues and the wider community to get to know the research interests of recent arrivals.
Join online via Zoom
For more information, contact: Lei Gong (lei.gong@sydney.edu.au)
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