International Symposium

Global Youth Dynamics and ‘Reality’ Negotiation in East Africa and South Asia: Gender, Diversity, Agency

Date: Saturday 18th– Sunday 19th November 2023

Venue: Medium Conference Room at the Administration Building, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (本部管理棟2階 中会議室 honbukanritō (jimutō))

https://www.tufs.ac.jp/english/abouttufs/contactus/access.html

Campus map: (④in the map) https://www.tufs.ac.jp/english/abouttufs/contactus/campusmap.html

Theme

This symposium focuses on youth ethnographically and seeks to examine, with an intersectional lens, how young people, in Eastern Africa and South Asia, understand their social world through their multiple identities -gender, caste, region, language, and nation – as well as their individual aspirations, desires, and choices. It also seeks to compare the structural factors that act as barriers to their mobility as well as identify the strategies and pathways that individuals develop for change. Through such an approach that focuses on both structure and agency, we aim to arrive at a broader understanding of the issues at hand in vastly different terrains and social communities.

The symposium seeks to address some pertinent questions: How do patriarchy, kinship, lack of (higher) education, unemployment, insecurity, and social and cultural inequalities common to these regions confront young people? How do they cope with the complexities and challenges they may encounter in their diverse social and cultural contexts? What forces compel them to make difficult choices for change? What new forms does their agency take?

We are especially interested in contributions that focus on gender, religion, and diversity with particular attention to agency. The diverse geographical sites and socio-political contexts will enrich our understanding of the themes through multiple social and regional perspectives. We hope this symposium will further enable us to arrive at a nuanced understanding of youth in diverse settings and provide a comparative background to anthropological youth studies.

InternationalSymposium2023GlobalYouthDynamics_Poster (2)のサムネイル

Program Each Presentation 30mins + Questions and Answers for 10mins.

DAY 1 (Saturday, Nov. 18th)

11:00-12:30     Casual Lunch Meeting (mainly for Young Scholars including Graduate Students)

12:30-13:00      Registration

13:00-13:10      Opening Remarks & Introduction (Wakana Shiino & Kazuyo Minamide)

13:10-13:50      Prof. Marie Lall: The Effects of Hindu Nationalism on Indian Universities; Students in the Eye of the Storm

13:50-14:30      Dr. Jane Dyson: The Contradictions of Prefigurative Politics: Rajput Young Women’s Everyday Activism in Himalayan India

14:30-14:40      Tea Break

14:40-15:20      Dr. Nirmala Ranasinghe: Can Tourism be a Powerful Life Strategy?: Through the Narratives of Young Men in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka

15:20-16:00      Mr. Takuya Hagiwara: Is Competitive Sport a Career-building Force for Kenyan Youth?: Structured Athletic Environment and Dynamics of Embodied Agency for Social Mobility

16:00-16:40      Dr. Kinyua Laban Kithinji: Contesting the State? Digital Media Platforms as Spaces of Refuge, Safety Nets, and Justice-Seeking in Kenya

16:40-16:50      Tea Break

16:50-17:10      Comments by Discussants

(South Asia) Prof. Fumiko Oshikawa, Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University

(Africa) Dr. Eri Hashimoto, Associate Professor, Rikkyo University

18:00-             Dinner at the Commons cafe, ILCAA

18:30~

We have a small concert by two young musicians.

🎻The first violin: Jason Shiino

🎻The second violin: Honoka Yamamoto

ヨハン・ゼバスティアン・バッハ  Johann Sebastian Bach

2 つのヴァイオリンのための協奏曲 ニ短調 BWV1043/ The Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043

The Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043 is a violin concerto of the Late Baroque era, which Johann Sebastian Bach composed around 1730.

第一楽章 Vivace , 第二楽章 Largo ma non Tanto

*These two young violinists are learning from Mizue Hashiguchi.

 

DAY 2 (Sunday, Nov. 19th)

9:40-10:00       (Venue Open)

10:00-10:40      Dr. Piotr Cichocki: The Reality Negotiations in the Collaborative Process of Local Music Making. The Case of Youth from Mzuzu, Malawi

10:40-11:20      Dr. Constance Mudondo: Navigating Market Terrain as Novices: Empowering Female Young Graduates of a Tailoring Course in Uganda

11:20-11:30      Coffee Break

11:30-12:10      Dr. Tomoyuki Chaya: Urban Slum Youth and the Significance of Secondary Education in Contemporary India: Cultivation of Perception of Self-image

12:10-13:30      LUNCH

13:30-14:10      Dr. Wakana Shiino: Female ‘Youth’ ‘s Choice for Their Survival: Being a Housegirl in Kenya or the Middle East

14:10-14:50      Dr. Kazuyo Minamide: “Probashir Bou (Migrant’s Wives)” in a Rural Bangladesh Village: Waiting and Recreating New Family Lives

14:50-15:00      Coffee Break

15:00-15:20      Comments by Discussants

(Africa) Dr. Soichiro Shiraishi, Associate Professor, Hirosaki University

(South Asia) Prof. Tatsuya Yamamoto, Professor, Shizuoka University

15:20-16:00      General Discussion for two days

16:00-16:10      Closing Remarks

 

Presenters

South Asia

Prof. Marie Lall: Professor and Chair of Education and South Asian Studies at the UCL Institute of Education

Dr. Jane Dyson: Associate Professor in Human Geography, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Melbourne

Dr. Nirmala Ranasinghe: Associate Professor, Faculty of Regional Creation, Nara Prefectural University

Dr. Tomoyuki Chaya: Lecturer, Graduate School of Education, Hyogo University of Teacher Education

Dr. Kazuyo Minamide: Associate Professor, Department of English, Kobe College

Africa

Mr. Takuya Hagiwara: Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences, Toyo University

Dr. Kinyua Laban Kithinji: Researcher, Institute of Asian Cultures, Sophia University

Dr. Piotr Cichocki: Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Warsaw

Dr. Constance Mudondo: Lecturer, Makerere University

Dr. Wakana Shiino: Associate Professor, Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

 

Registration

https://forms.gle/vufE4AQqLtwDCiiL7

Note: Please encourage younger scholars including graduate students and PhD candidates to attend the casual lunch meeting on Saturday. It will be a great opportunity for their networking across areas of study.

 

【Organized by】

Research Institute of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

JSPS project “The Era of Uncertainty and Social Transformation in South Asia: through the Young People’s Strategies”