Author Archives: ld-sylff

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

Visits to the Geneva Graduate Institute and Uppsala University by Chairman Sasakawa

June 13, 2024

On May 28, Sylff Association Chairman Yohei Sasakawa visited the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, where he met with Sylff fellows and members of the Sylff steering committee.

Mr. Sasakawa is the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination and was in Geneva to attend the seventy-seventh World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization, held from May 27 to June 1. The Sylff program at the Graduate Institute, located near the WHO Headquarters and UN Office in Geneva, generously supports two postgraduate students each year, many of whom pursue careers at the United Nations and other international organizations.

Chairman Sasakawa with Graduate Institute fellows Kanikka Sersia, left, and Paula Gonzalez.

The meeting at the Geneva Graduate Institute was attended by Director of Cabinet Laurence Algarra; Director of Studies and SSC member Andrea Bianchi; Executive Director and SSC member Bruno Chatagnat; Executive Director of Studies, Senior Academic Adviser, and SSC member Laurent Neury; and Financial Aid Officer and SSC member Kasia Wasiukiewicz.

From Geneva, he flew to Sweden, calling on Uppsala University on May 30 to meet with Sylff officials and fellows. The Sylff program at Uppsala has a very strong track record over many years and has produced many outstanding fellows. Mr. Sasakawa was graciously greeted by Vice-Rector Tora Holmberg and met with Dean of the Faculty of Social Science and SSC Chair Joakim Palme; Professor of Business Studies and SSC member Linda Wedlin; Professor Emeritus in Peace and Conflict Studies Peter Wallensteen; along with Sylff fellows Caroline Brandt (peace and conflict research) and Naira Topooco (psychology).

Seated facing Mr. Sasakawa are (from left) fellow Naira Topooco, Professor of Business Studies Linda Wedlin, Professor of Political Science Joakim Palme, Vice-Rector Tora Holmberg, Professor Emeritus Peter Wallensteen, and fellow Caroline Brandt.

He also visited the head office of the Scandinavia-Japan Sasakawa Foundation, as well as Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, meeting with Chair of the SIPRI Governing Board Stefan Löfven and Director Dan Smith.

He then returned to Geneva to attend the award ceremony for the 40th WHO-Sasakawa Health Prize, held during the May 31 plenary of the World Health Assembly.

Professor Doreen Ramogola-Masire of the University of Botswana, the 2024 recipient of the WHO-Sasakawa Health Prize, is flanked by Chairman Sasakawa and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

An Initiative to Broaden Educational Horizons for Rural Youth in India

June 11, 2024

The Sylff Association secretariat is pleased to announce another recipient of a Sylff Leadership Initiatives (SLI) award.

The awardee is Khinvraj Suthar Jangid, who received a Sylff fellowship at Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is now an adjunct professor at the Azrieli Center for Israel Studies (MALI), Ben-Gurion University, in Israel, and an associate professor and director of the Center for Israel Studies at OP Jindal Global University in India.

His SLI project was motivated by a desire to enable high school students in rural areas of India to overcome the barriers to a university education—many of which Jangid experienced himself. He recognized that the information and opportunities necessary to enter and succeed in university environments were severely limited for students living outside of large cities.

“The national universities and colleges are very urban spaces wherein youth born and raised in educated families have comfort and confidence,” he writes. But it can be “intimidating . . . [for] rural youth, born and raised in least educated families,” to find themselves in an “elite-educated ecosystem.”

“I went through such an experience after coming to Delhi from a village in Jodhpur in 2004, and I still find hundreds from the same rural area dealing with the difficulties of not knowing what it takes for good and successful higher education.” After a decade and half of living and working in Delhi and Israel, he wished to share his knowledge with the rural youth of his native village.

Jangid speaking to participants at the workshop in May.

With the SLI award, Jangid held a five-day workshop in Jodhpur, India, giving local high school students an opportunity to learn about the various programs offered at the university level, gain tips on improving English skills, and connect with mentors who work in academia. The workshop was also aimed at enhancing understanding of higher education among the students’ parents and to foster an environment more supportive of those wishing to pursue higher learning.

The Sylff Association secretariat lauds Khinvraj Jangid’s determined efforts to help broaden the horizons of youths in his hometown—in spite of the difficulties posed by the security situation in Israel, where he currently resides. We congratulate him for successfully organizing the workshop to share his experiences and look forward to supporting many more impactful projects through SLI.

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

Education and Social Mobility in India: Campus Socialization and the Process of “Self-Making”

June 7, 2024
By 29668

Through an exploration of the differential experiences of students across social backgrounds of caste, class, religion, and gender, Taniya Chakrabarty (Jawaharlal Nehru University, 2021–23) explores how diversity—often promoted as a virtue in modern corporate culture—is viewed, understood, experienced, structured, and reproduced on the campuses of India’s elite universities.

* * *

The role of structure and agency and the relevance of the individualization thesis remain an ongoing debate in the social sciences. In recent years, a consensus has emerged among scholars that although education, in principle, creates new opportunities, the structures and processes through which education is imparted often give rise to inequalities, as not all members of society equally benefit from it (Chitnis 1972; Rivera 2012; Littler 2017). Given the complex but close relationship between education and occupation in modern capitalist societies, inequalities in the system of education also give rise to inequality in matters of employment and social mobility (Beteille 1991).

In this regard, elite educational institutions play an important role not simply in conferring academic credentials but also in cultivating cultural fit and merit that together valorize individualism in terms of hard work and capabilities. Under such a system, individuals are forced to internalize the market perspective of competition and hard work and are made to believe in the need to invest in all-round development to make themselves suitable for the market.

It is commonly argued that there are differences in aspirations among people depending on whether they are located in the margins or the mainstream. In recent years, the policy of reservations in India has enabled students from marginalized backgrounds to secure admission to elite, public-sector educational institutions,[1] giving them not only access to high-status credentials and skill training but also the opportunity to interact and socialize with the privileged classes and to cultivate social and cultural capital (Khan 2023). Although still disproportionate in terms of presence, through their admission into eminent institutions, educated students belonging to lower castes and classes have been able to successfully enter previously restricted markets for high-status, high-paying jobs. As a consequence, the Indian middle class of today is an expanding space with variable levels of privilege and claims to merit, making the discussion on merit significantly more interesting and complicated.

Using a primarily qualitative method of in-depth interviews and focus-group discussions, my SRG study looked at the process of “self-making” among MBA students at a premier business school in Kolkata, India. Through an exploration of the differential experiences of students across social backgrounds of caste, class, religion, and gender, my study explored how diversity—often promoted as a virtue in modern corporate culture—is viewed, understood, experienced, structured, and reproduced in elite campuses.

Merit, Culture, and Social Identity: Understanding the Linkages

Elite educational institutions in India, have a distinct institutional habitus comprising several formal and informal norms for academic, nonacademic or extracurricular, and social or interactional pursuits. The management training offered at in premium B-schools are known for their distinct quantitative pedagogy and the system of relative grading that assesses students based on the performance of their colleagues. Students reported relying on group studies as a means of matching up with each other; described as “cooperative competition,” such a method of learning acclimatizes students to the cultures of competition and teamwork prevalent among elite educational institutions and business corporations.

©Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Following implementation of the policy of reservations, the MBA batches on campus included students from both reserved or marginalized and unreserved or dominant segments of society. However, because of its unilateral benchmark for performance, the system of relative grading was found to overlook histories of inequality in opportunities and outcomes among students in expecting them to compete for a common standard of performance. While such methods, in principle, can be expected to promote collaborative learning, students from marginalized backgrounds argued that they, in practice, are often unequal and exclusionary, as they create a graded pattern of competency, where success is dependent on their relative positions of privilege.

Guided by the concept of “cooperative competition,” whereby cooperation is fostered to produce competitive outcomes, students reported relying on group studies and projects to meet educational standards. However, the groups formed were described to follow traditional norms of collective formations, that is, students largely collaborated with colleagues belonging to similar social and cultural backgrounds and levels of academic competence. This, in turn, meant that students from less privileged or diverse backgrounds had little room to collaborate with their higher-performing peers and were instead left to either study by themselves or collaborate with students experiencing similar struggles. Such a practice shifted the onus of performance onto weaker students to match up to their privileged peers but with limited opportunities for learning.

Yet again, within the institutional habitus (Bourdieu 1986), relative grading reinforced the set boundaries of social reputation and status. Early investment in education, such as good schooling, tutoring, and mentorship, significantly impacted methods of acquiring knowledge, training, and proficiency among students. Although relative grading in practice indicates students’ performance relative to that of their peers and not their actual quality of knowledge, those unable to match up to their colleagues were observed to adopt several strategies, such as altering their choice of courses or withdrawing from social engagements due to lack of confidence or fear of social judgment.

In addition to academic engagements, top-ranked business schools also greatly emphasize extracurricular activities as part of the self-making exercise, providing multicourt sports stadiums, inter- and intra-collegiate sports events, and institute clubs for dance, music, debates, quizzes, and the like. Those proficient in such activities are often rewarded with positions of responsibility and viewed as the elites or “campus stars.” Although, in principle, such opportunities are available to all students, in practice, not all students actively participate in such activities. Students struggling to academically compete with their privileged counterparts were observed to largely withdraw or maintain a low profile in such activities. However, with potential employers increasingly emphasizing extracurricular activities as endorsements for soft skills and culture fit at the time of recruitment (Rivera 2012), such acts of withdrawal or reduced participation worked against applicants during the recruiting process.

In keeping with market prescriptions, MBA students closely emulated the cultural norms, behaviors, and expectations associated with corporate culture, following specific guidelines for acceptable and desirable behavior in various aspects of campus social life, including fashion and style, personal hygiene, appearance, hangout spaces on and off campus, food and beverage consumption, the nature of interactions, self-preservation, presentation styles, social behavior, attitudes, and personalities—all of which were observed, compared, and consciously embraced by students as part of their self-making process.

Accordingly, respondents in this study were observed to adopt a process of cultural adaptation through alterations in language and discourse; lifestyle and consumption choices; appearance and presentation; social behavior during interviews, preselection corporate dinners, and events; participation in extracurricular activities like sports, quizzing, or debating; and consumption patterns. Such markers of merit and corporate fit identified by respondents necessitate early investments of social, cultural, and symbolic capital that together form the ideas of self among students.

Adhering to pervading notions regarding competition and merit, students on campus were broadly categorized into two categories: the negative “complainer” who would express their dissatisfaction, struggles, or annoyance with the competitive system, and the positive “go-getter” who would consider such difficulties as a challenge and work toward overcoming them to succeed within the system. Through exhortations like “Don’t be a complainer but a go-getter,” the university’s cultural habitus compels students to accept and internalize competition as both inevitable and aspirational while simultaneously disallowing students the space to speak of their struggles in coping with such a system.

Self-Making and Social Mobility: Confirmation or Anticipatory Socialization

Bourdieu (1986, 46) argued that to retain their claims to privileged positions, the elite creates an “imaginary universe of perfect competition or perfect equality of opportunity, a world without inertia, without accumulation, without heredity or acquired properties, . . . and every prize can be attained, instantaneously, by everyone, so that at each moment anyone can be anything.” With role models in their habitus (Bourdieu 1967), the process of “self-making” or reputation building among privileged students is not something new or unfamiliar; rather, it is a reproduction of inherited knowledge and shared experiences learned in their homes and performed with ease (Khan 2012); such students are not required to alter what they learned through their primary socialization. Evidence of this was found among respondents who succeeded in this system. Primarily coming from families with histories of academic and professional achievement, such students exhibit familiarity and ease with success, ascribing this to their “winning attitude”; in contrast, students from less privileged backgrounds, often encountering this system for the first time, spoke of their struggles and repeatedly requested that their circumstances be given greater consideration.

Many less privileged students were observed to engage in a process of anticipatory socialization, where they viewed the ideas, values, attitudes, lifestyles, and communication and behavioral styles of their privileged peers as reference for their cultural training (Merton 1957). Even though they struggled to adapt culturally, students from marginalized backgrounds, especially first- and second-generation learners, nevertheless found that this experience contributed to a sense of self-realization and offered them a chance to re-envision their future. Students from marginalized castes, classes, or religious backgrounds are less likely to have a network of rich, influential, and resourceful people and/or lack the cultural knowledge required to form market associations. Some respondents pointed out that their families often held opposing cultural beliefs. In this regard, elite educational institutions offer such students a rare opportunity to socialize and form networks of information and cultural exchange:

“Some of us did not learn about business, investment, generating funds, or having a risk appetite in our homes. But here we learned about these in class, from case studies, etc., but also from our classmates who learned all of this from their fathers or brothers. So now even we dream of starting something of our own one day and have the confidence that we can make it work. Because we now know people who did that. Some of the guys here already have that experience, and we learn from that.”

With professional training and exposure to ideas concerning business, investment, planning, strategy, and risks, respondents from socially disadvantaged sections were found to alter and reorient their aspirations. This change in ideas of self and outlook for the future was also observed among women students.

Although still disproportionately low, female representation in the MBA course has been increasing. Further, following widespread calls for gender-diverse hiring policies, female students were reportedly hired early in the placement process; but they nonetheless encountered stagnation post-recruitment, as diversity policies were limited to entry-level positions and did not extend higher up the organizational hierarchy. An interesting corollary has been that while female students reported feelings of empowerment due to their high-status jobs, emerging as critical providers for the family—a role traditionally designated to males—owing to their increased earnings, they also reported difficulties in finding suitable marriage partners with comparable income levels.

The hiring of professionally trained individuals thus appears to be strongly influenced by social and cultural factors. Successful performance is based not on individual effort alone, moreover, but is significantly conditioned and constructed through such collective determinants as family history, educational and vocational histories, cultural exposure, social networks, and experience of cultural adaptation. Although individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds have indeed demonstrated their abilities and achieved upward social mobility, my study has shown that their success is nevertheless contingent upon their proximity to middle-class cultural norms.

Conclusion

My SRG study was an attempt to unravel the processes of self-making and privilege reproduction, as well as the struggles that students from marginalized backgrounds encounter as they strive to validate their achievements and claims of merit within established institutions. It examined the process of self-making experienced by students from diverse backgrounds, especially through specialized education.

My research revealed that as students from socially marginalized families adapt to corporate culture, they are simultaneously engaging in a process of self-development and navigating potential conflicts with their families and with themselves. It may be worthwhile in the future to examine how educational institutions are responding to the changing social and cultural composition among their students and also to investigate the policy changes institutions are implementing to maintain their exclusivity while simultaneously complying with affirmative action policies.

[1] The reservation policy in India is an affirmative action process of reserving a certain percentage of seats (with a maximum limit of 50%) for socially marginalized groups like Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs), religious minorities, and more recently Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in educational and employment organizations. However, the policy is binding only in the public sector. Private-sector institutions have successfully lobbied to remain outside the purview of these quotas.

References

Beteille, A. (1991). The Reproduction of Inequality: Occupation, Caste and Family. Contributions to Indian Sociology, 25(1), 3–28.

Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In J. Richardson, ed., Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 241–58.

Bourdieu, P. (1987). The Force of Law: Toward a Sociology of the Juridical Field. Hastings Law Journal, 38.

Chitnis, S. (1972). Education for Equality: Case of Scheduled Castes in Higher Education. Economic and Political Weekly, 1675–81.

Khan, S. R. (2012). The Sociology of Elites. Annual Review of Sociology, 38, 361–77.

Khan, S. R. (2023). Legacy Admissions Don’t Work the Way You Think They Do. Guest Essay. New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/07/opinion/alumni-affirmative-action-legacy-admissions.html.

Littler, J. (2017). Against Meritocracy: Culture, Power and Myths of Mobility. Taylor & Francis.

Merton, R. K. (1957). The Role-Set: Problems in Sociological Theory. The British Journal of Sociology, 8(2), 106–20.

Rivera, L. A. (2012). Hiring as Cultural Matching: The Case of Elite Professional Service Firms. American Sociological Review, 77(6), 999–1022.

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

SLI Award for Project to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in Music through Concerts in Germany

May 23, 2024

The Sylff Association secretariat is pleased to announce another recent recipient of a Sylff Leadership Initiatives (SLI) award for a project to promote “Gender Equality for Orchestra Conductors in Leadership Positions.”

Eleni Papakyriakou, a Sylff fellowship recipient in 2012, received her master’s degree in orchestra and choir conducting from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. She is the chief conductor and artistic director of Sinfonietta Passau, which she founded in 2022 during the post-pandemic revival of the cultural scene to provide musicians with opportunities to perform. “I decided that I had to help myself and the musicians around me by creating a new orchestra,” she comments.

She also wished to address the problems of unequal treatment, discrimination, and lack of opportunities for women musicians. As a female conductor, Papakyriakou has personally experienced barriers faced by many women. “Currently only 8 percent of conductors in leadership positions in Germany are female.”

She established Sinfonietta Passau with a vision of creating an inclusive orchestra of musicians from many different countries and at various stages of their careers. The orchestra consists of 64 musicians—33 women and 31 men—including Russians and Ukrainians, who left their countries because of the war.

Using the SLI award, Papakyriakou and Sinfonietta Passau held two highly successful concerts in April in the southeast German cities of Passau and Deggendorf. The performances by this unique orchestra, whose program included the German premiere of Passau-born composer Philipp Ortmeier’s “Tree of Life,” communicated an important message of equality and inclusion.

Papakyriakou leads Sinfonietta Passau at the Deggendorf concert in April.

The Sylff Association secretariat congratulates Eleni Papakyriakou on the award and her virtuosic efforts to achieve greater musical and social harmony. We are excited to support fellows who are taking on leadership roles to create positive social impact.

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

Raising Awareness: Addressing the Impact of Childhood Trauma and Promoting Trauma-Informed Care

May 20, 2024
By 29706

In February 2024, a conference was organized by Dorjkhand Sharavjamts (National Academy of Governance, 2020) using an SLI grant to address the pervasive issue of childhood trauma in Mongolia. Held in Ulaanbaatar, the meeting brought together experts in children’s care, child protection advocates, parents, and policymakers to elevate awareness, share insights, and strategize on improving mental health outcomes for children.

* * *

Since I was very young, I have always been tuned in to the problems kids face, including the issues I went through myself. I was particularly struck by how parents and their kids talk to each other. This was troubling for me, given the high prevalence of divorce and alcoholism in Mongolia and the observation that many adults seemed ill-prepared for the responsibilities of parenthood. These issues appeared to be systemic, contributing to a cycle of dissatisfaction and underdevelopment permeating Mongolian society at every level.

Even though I focused my energies on my studies, I never stopped thinking about how families can hurt or help each other. I have always wanted to shine a light on these issues and get people talking about the family traditions that are worthy of passing on to future generations and those that need to be discouraged. The chance to research these issues and disseminate my findings presented a unique opportunity to address these concerns head-on.

When I was attending the National Academy of Governance in Mongolia, I learned how I could make a difference in the world when I met Mr. Ryoichi Sasakawa during his visit to Mongolia in July 2023. His speech exuded kindness and emphasized the importance of contributing to society. His suggestions to us gave me the push I needed. Inspired by him, I decided to organize a conference, hoping it would get people talking about protecting kids, stopping harmful behavior, and helping children who have been through tough times.

Receiving the SLI award was a significant milestone, as it marked the transition from intention to action. The award prompted me to focus on making the biggest impact I could. And I did not want the project to just be a one-off event. That is why I worked to establish an NGO called the Public Mental Health Promotion Center in October 2023—just after I received the award. The aim of this NGO is to continually engage the public in critical conversations and provide support to those in need, particularly in understanding and addressing psychological issues.

A Microcosm of Collective Resolve

On February 24, 2024, we held an event called “Breaking the Chains: Understanding Childhood Trauma” in Ulaanbaatar. Our conference was organized into three segments, each including a lecture, a workshop, and a panel discussion, to cover the multifaceted issues of childhood trauma. We hosted three expert lectures that delved into the effects, recognition, and healing of childhood trauma, alongside the significance of trauma-informed care in child protection and mental health.

The February 2024 event attracted over 100 participants from a cross section of Mongolian society.

The conference revealed the many difficulties kids in Mongolia must deal with because of old beliefs, financial hardships, a shortage of schools and hospitals, and most importantly a lack of knowledge among parents and childcare professionals about how best to work with children. Our ambition was to forge a space where professionals, advocates, parents, and policymakers could converge, share insights, and collaboratively chart a course forward to improve the mental health outcomes of children who have been impacted by trauma. Drawing over 100 participants from a cross section of Mongolian society, including government officials, NGO representatives, educators, legal professionals, and parents, the conference represented a microcosm of communal concern and collective resolve.

The event was structured to foster a comprehensive exploration of childhood trauma, from its origins and impacts to strategies for recovery and resilience. Starting with compelling opening remarks from Professor Khishigjargal Bazarvaani of the National University of Mongolia and extending through a series of expert-led presentations and workshops, the conference facilitated a deep dive into the multifaceted nature of trauma. Participants were not merely passive recipients of information but engaged contributors, sharing personal narratives, professional insights, and practical strategies for addressing trauma.

The author was one of the keynote lecturers at the conference, who, along with Professor Khishigjargal Bazarvaani and practicing psychologist Adyiasuren Enkhbaatar, provided a strong scientific foundation for understanding childhood trauma.

Compilation of Actionable Recommendations

From the perspective of promoting effectiveness, participants were divided into 10 subgroups from the beginning. Perhaps most impactful were the smaller, breakout discussions and workshops, where the lines between personal experience and professional expertise became blurred. Each participant brought their unique perspective, enriching the discussions that deepened everyone’s understanding of the issues and reinforced our determination to enact positive change.

Discussions in each group were moderated by psychology experts, giving each participant a chance to freely share their experiences and express their opinions.

One concrete outcome of the conference was the compilation of actionable recommendations. This collaborative endeavor resulted in a robust framework for action spanning many different areas, from individual behaviors to systemic reforms—all aimed at fostering a supportive environment conducive to the healing and thriving of children. These recommendations reflected the collective insights and understanding of the conference participants, embodying a shared commitment to making a tangible difference in the lives of children affected by trauma.

Participants introduced recommendations and plans for further action generated by each subgroup. (Photo1)

Participants introduced recommendations and plans for further action generated by each subgroup. (Photo2)

The overwhelmingly positive feedback received post-conference underscored the event’s profound impact on attendees. Many participants reported gaining deeper insights into childhood trauma and leaving with a renewed sense of purpose and commitment to integrate what they learned into their personal and professional lives. Such enthusiastic responses were a testament to the conference’s success in reaching a diverse audience, stirring hope for better days ahead.

Reflecting on the “Breaking the Chains” conference fills me with a deep sense of gratitude and optimism. I am thankful for Sylff’s support, the wisdom shared by our speakers, the dedication of our participants, and the collective belief in the possibility of change. This event, though a single point in time, represents a significant step forward in an ongoing journey to build understanding, healing, and resilience. I am grateful for the support from everyone who joined our effort. This conference was just the start, and it showed how talking and working together can lead to big changes. We have a long way to go, but I believe we can make life better for kids in Mongolia by working together to break the chains of trauma, one link at a time.

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

Launch of Preliminary Registration for SRG 2024

May 15, 2024

The Sylff Association secretariat is pleased to announce a call for applications for Sylff Research Grant (SRG) 2024. SRG is intended to enable eligible fellows (doctoral students and recent PhD graduates) to engage in rigorous academic research.

You can check the eligibility requirements, application procedures, and schedule at the following link: https://www.sylff.org/support_programs/srg/

Applicants will be asked to go through a preliminary registration phase to determine their eligibility. The secretariat will NOT respond to individual inquiries concerning eligibility. Please visit the above page to confirm your eligibility BEFORE applying. Applications from ineligible fellows will NOT be reviewed.

Please submit a preliminary registration form (powered by Zoho Survey) from the link at the bottom of the SRG page.

We look forward to receiving your submissions!

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

Chairman Sasakawa Visits Universiti Malaya

May 14, 2024

Sylff Association Chairman Yohei Sasakawa visited Universiti Malaya on May 9 and was warmly welcomed by Vice-Chancellor Dr. Noor Azuan Abu Osman, Deputy Vice Chancellor Dr. Yatimah Alias (Sylff steering committee chair), and Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor Dr. Yvonne Lim Al Lian.

Mr. Sasakawa was in Malaysia to participate in a series of discussions on ways to achieve peace in Myanmar, meeting with Malaysian government officials as well as representatives of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities.

He also spoke with two Sylff fellows (Muhammad Arif Fitri Bin Azizan and Noorilham Bin Ismail) at the university, which joined the Sylff community in 1990 and has produced 75 fellows to date. The program has been administered under the new scheme since 2021, with fellowships being awarded to two to three outstanding graduate students each year who are expected to make major contributions to Malaysian society.

The Sylff Association secretariat hopes to continue working with Sylff institutions to identify and nurture leaders who will help build a better future for not only Malaysia and Southeast Asia but also other countries and regions around the world.

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

Identifying Core Values of Neoliberal Folk Justice to Build a Theoretical Argument for Policy Consensus

May 14, 2024
By 30626

It appears that global opinion has been shifting toward a preference for neoliberal policies over the past half century, despite growing inequality in many major economies. Dai Oba (Waseda University, 2020) used an SRG award to advance his research at the University of Oxford to investigate complexities behind this trend among British voters, who appear to have embraced a loosely defined set of attitudes that the author calls “neoliberal folk justice.”

* * *

In May 2023, Onward, a center-right think-tank in the UK, described millennials as “shy capitalists” based on the results of a questionnaire survey. Although millennials are thought to hold egalitarian values and downplay the importance of economic growth and individual effort, Onward found that they also prefer policies of low taxes and less redistribution.[1] This is a good example of how people’s economic views can be quite complex, defying neat categorization into right or left. Similarly to this finding, my research looks into people’s complex views that I call “folk justice”.

In the past half-century, the world seems to have become gradually and increasingly more “neoliberal,” by which I mean an orientation emphasizing the role of the market and associated ideas of the economic right, such as efficiency, personal responsibility, and autonomy. To be clear, most people do not necessarily identify themselves as adhering to a coherent set of beliefs like libertarianism. Rather, many tend to hold beliefs that are loosely defined and not always coherent, which might be described as neoliberal folk justice.

My research is focused on this loosely defined set of attitudes that seems to have a strong and stable hold on a large segment of the population. Increased support for the left, on the other hand, has been relatively rare and short-lived. This is surprising because the comparative merits of egalitarian institutions seem rather indisputable for the majority of the working public, especially in the aftermath of major economic crises in 2008 and 2020. How can this be explained? Is there anything we are not seeing?

As a political philosopher, I am primarily interested in theories of justice and equality. But in analyzing the neoliberal trend, I wished to start with what folk neoliberals on the street believe. Clarity and coherence are extremely important for theories, but people’s beliefs and attitudes can often be unclear and incoherent. So, I wanted to first identify the core beliefs of neoliberal folk justice and build theoretical arguments from the bottom up in the hope they can serve as resources for reasoned democratic deliberation that are accessible to ordinary citizens.

In the following, I will describe my findings of an investigation into neoliberal folk justice, conducted with the help of an SRG award.

People’s deeply held convictions inform their political attitudes. Photo by Dylan Bueltel, https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-red-jacket-holding-a-cardboard-with-message-5233241/.

Complex Attitudes Toward Inequality and Wealth

The complexity of neoliberal-leaning attitudes has been documented by many scholars, whose research reveals some common themes.

Jonathan Mijs, for example, has noted the paradoxical acceptance of inequality in the face of fast-growing inequality and an apparent correlation between such acceptance and levels of inequality. Using International Social Survey Program (ISSP) data covering 23 Western countries and three different periods (1987–88, 1991–93, 2008–12), Mijs tested hypotheses regarding people’s acceptance of rising inequality. He “argue[s] that what explains citizens’ consent to inequality is their conviction that poverty and wealth are the outcomes of a fair meritocratic process.”[2] People’s belief in meritocracy tends to be stronger as society becomes more unequal because, Mijs claims, the affluent and the poor live increasingly separate lives in an unequal society. He posits that greater inequality goes hand in hand with stronger meritocratic beliefs and that stronger meritocratic beliefs, in turn, lead to reduced concerns about inequality.

He also tested the inverse relationships between inequality and notions of structural inequality (that is, lower inequality correlates with stronger awareness about structural factors of inequality, and stronger beliefs about structural inequality correlate with greater concern about inequality). He confirms the hypothesis, with the effect of meritocratic beliefs being stronger than the effect of beliefs in structural inequality. Mijs’s key finding is that economic inequality tends to be seen as acceptable when people believe their society embodies meritocratic principles, a belief which, in turn, is strengthened by a rise in inequality.

While Mijs’s findings suggest links with the idea of procedural justice, the notion of meritocracy is a vague one. In fact, Mijs construes meritocratic beliefs rather narrowly as people’s belief in the importance of hard work as a factor for economic success. There can be some variety in what people mean by the “importance of hard work” ranging from, for example, hard work in employment and non-paid work to being responsible and prudent in managing their finances and “giving back” to society.

Regarding what makes inequality (appear) legitimate, Rachel Sherman conducted interviews with 50 wealthy couples in New York and found that the affluent feel a strong need to be able to justify their wealth. Her interviewees had household incomes within the top 5% in New York City—the most unequal large city in the US—and were characterized as the “new elite” who “believe in diversity, openness, and meritocracy rather than status based on birth.”[3] To Sherman’s surprise, many affluent New Yorkers expressed moral conflicts about their privilege and shared various narratives to demonstrate their worthiness, which she broadly categorized into three types.

The first narrative is that of the hard worker marked by such redeeming qualities as productivity, self-sufficiency, discipline, and independence. The second narrative is that of the prudent consumer. The rich New Yorkers cast themselves and their spending habits as “normal” in an attempt to distance themselves from the negative image of the “leisure class.” In line with the Protestant ethic, disciplined spending is considered part of the meritocratic ideal and thus a legitimator of their wealth. The third narrative is that of someone actively “giving back” to society typically by donating their money or time to charitable organizations.

We can see certain aspects of folk neoliberal values underlying these research findings, namely, the idea of meritocracy, under which economic success is ascribed to an individual’s personal merits; the value placed on hard work over idleness and dependence; the ideal of prudence and responsibility; and the imperative of “giving back” to society.

Four Values of Neoliberal Folk Justice

Rather than describing the minute details of people’s complex attitudes, I focused on the following two claims as being the core beliefs of neoliberal folk justice, namely, that redistribution is unfair and that government should not intervene in the market.

These claims can be unpacked into the following four normative values. First, social cooperation should be on a quid pro quo basis, and freeriding should not be allowed. This requires that there is a certain equity between contributions and benefits. Second, those who rely on welfare do not deserve further assistance because they lack a sense of personal responsibility. This claim points to a personal virtue of using of resources (including time and talent) in a prudent and thoughtful manner. Third, market outcomes are morally fair. This can be understood as an expression of trust in the market mechanism and its ability to legitimate distributive outcomes. Fourth, each person is the sole author of his/her life, and the government should not interfere or even offer any help. This expresses the moral ideals of self-sufficiency, independence, and, most importantly, the ability to advance one’s life as his or her own project and no one else’s.

In sum, the four core values of neoliberal folk justice are (1) reciprocity, (2) responsibility, (3) procedural fairness, and (4) autonomy.

Survey Findings

What do people believe about just economic policies? Photo by Karolina Grabowska, https://www.pexels.com/photo/quote-board-on-top-of-cash-bills-4386367/.

I conducted an online opinion survey of 2,065 adults living in Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) to directly test the above selection of core values. Along with two dummy values (“solidarity” and “efficiency”) and after explaining what each value stands for, I asked respondents to rate the importance of the four values when thinking about economic policies that are fair for everyone (respondents were asked to select from ‘very important’, ‘fairly important’, ‘not very important’, ‘not at all important’, and ‘don’t know’).

The results of the survey confirmed my selection of the above four values. Comparing the percentages of those who answered “very important” or “fairly important,” the four values all scored 70% or higher (79% for “procedural fairness,” 78% for “responsibility,” 71% for “reciprocity,” and 70% for “autonomy”), while the dummy values scored significantly lower (59% for “efficiency” and 58% for “solidarity”). Additionally, correlations with respondents’ past voting behavior revealed that for both the 2015 and 2019 general elections, those who voted for the Conservatives supported the four values significantly more than those who voted for Labour (the difference ranging from 10 percentage points to 30 points). This supports my hypothesis that the four values have particularly strong resonance with folk neoliberals.

Toward Theoretical Arguments and Policy Consensus

Based on the above findings, the next stage of my research will offer repertoires of theoretical arguments regarding the four values of neoliberal folk justice, each of which represents a potential salient political position that citizens may adopt. As a final output, I aim to describe potential areas of policy consensus between those different arguments, showing that reaching an agreement on desirable and feasible social welfare policies for the twenty-first century is a realistic possibility.

[1] Jim Blagden and Sebastian Payne, “Missing Millennials,” Onward, May, 2023, https://www.ukonward.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/missing_millennials-1.pdf, accessed 19 October 2023.

[2] Jonathan Mijs, “The Paradox of Inequality: Income Inequality and Belief in Meritocracy Go Hand in Hand,” Socio-Economic Review, vol. 19, no. 1: 7–35 (January 2021), p. 29.

[3] Rachel Sherman, Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence, Princeton University Press, 2017, pp.13–15.

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

Presentations by Waseda Fellows and Meeting of the Steering Committee

May 9, 2024

On March 22, 2024, Waseda University held its annual meeting of the Sylff steering committee and heard presentations by two Waseda fellows on their recent research and social engagement activities.

The gathering, held at Waseda’s campus in Tokyo and attended by members of the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research (Sylff Association secretariat) as well as the university’s faculty and administrative staff, was the first in four years to be held in person following the outbreak of COVID-19.

War and the Okinawan Diaspora

Participating online from Mexico, Lima Tokumori, a 2023 fellowship recipient enrolled in the Graduate School of Social Sciences, presented an interim report on “Uchinanchu Concepts: Militarization and Ethnicity as Seen in the Cases of Okinawan Immigrants in the Philippines, Peru, and Hawaii.”

Her doctoral research seeks to examine the historical impact of militarization on the Ryukyuan-Okinawan diaspora—who identify themselves as Uchinanchu. She used her fellowship last year to conduct fieldwork around US military bases in the Philippines and Okinawa. She reported on the importance of carefully building trust with her interviewees in getting them to provide detailed information, including on such sensitive subjects like gender and war.

In addition to writing her dissertation, Tokumori is currently involved in various other activities. She volunteers her time for the Business and Human Rights[i] project of the UN Development Program at its Mexico office and undertakes human resources development and administrative duties for the annual event to read aloud the names of all war victims in the Battle of Okinawa. Her plans for next year include conducting fieldwork in Peru and collecting materials in the United States. She hopes to pursue a career in the United Nations.

Empirical Analysis of Workplace Health Measures

Ritsu Kitagawa of the Graduate School of Economics, who received his fellowship in 2022 and 2023, meanwhile, presented his final report on the “Empirical Analysis of Health Management: Verifying the Effectiveness of Health Support Measures in the Workplace.”

Japan’s declining birthrate and aging population are compelling many companies to give greater attention to making sure their employees remain healthy and active so as to ensure a stable workforce. Kitagawa’s doctoral research aims to quantitatively verify the effectiveness of various health-related workplace measures and to identify best health-management practices.

One of his findings was that supervisor-directed overtime significantly raised stress levels and the likelihood of such physical ailments as headaches, stiff shoulders, and back pain among male employees hired for their expert skills. He also found that metabolic syndrome risks can affect male and female employees differently, with women often gaining weight and men growing slimmer. These results suggest the need for corporate health measures that are customized for gender and career track. Kitagawa has been sharing his findings at various workshops and conferences and advocating for more nuanced workplace policies.

He has also verified the usefulness of app-based health promotion programs and is promoting their use among various companies. He himself has developed an app for LINE that female employees can use and is working for its broad dissemination.

He reported that the two-year Sylff fellowship enabled him to expand his research activities through purchases of research equipment, implementation of questionnaire surveys, and participation in overseas conferences, as well as facilitating research-related social engagement activities.

Ritsu Kitagawa (third from left), SSC chair and Waseda professor Shinji Wakao (fourth from left), SSC member and Waseda professor Kazuyuki Sasakura (second from right), and members of the Sylff Association secretariat.

The Tokyo Foundation expressed its deep gratitude to the Waseda Sylff steering committee for its smooth program operations and effective fund management, as well as for the selection of outstanding fellows and its longstanding cooperation with the Sylff program.

[i] The UNDP’s Business and Human Rights (B+HR) project is supported by the governments of Japan, Sweden, and the European Union. In Mexico, it works to strengthen human rights due diligence among Japanese companies operating locally and along their supply chain.

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

An Online Orientation Meeting for “Pedro Arrupe” Fellows

May 7, 2024

On April 9,2024, the Institute of Political Education “Pedro Arrupe” held an online orientation meeting with members of the Sylff Association secretariat. The meeting was attended by six Sylff fellows selected in academic years 2023 and 2024.

Participants included Sylff Steering Committee Chair Massimo Massaro (middle row, left); Sylff fellows Enza Maria Macaluso (top row, right), Flavia Monfrini (middle row, center), Francesca Barbino (middle row, right), Ugo Giarratano, Vincenzo Buffa, Alberto Piacentini (bottom row, left to right); and Sylff Association secretariat members Executive Director Mari Suzuki (top row, center, left in frame), Director Keita Sugai (top row, left), and Program Officer Konatsu Furuya (top row, center, right in frame).

The Sylff program at the institute is called the Idea-Action Research Program and is a framework for young researchers to engage in scientific research geared toward making concrete social contributions, particularly in Sicily, where the institute is located.

The orientation meeting began with opening remarks from Massimo Massaro, chairperson of the Sylff program at the institute, and Mari Suzuki, executive director of the Tokyo Foundation, who both touched upon the value of the program in developing socially engaged leaders. The six fellows then introduced their respective research topics.

Ugo Giarratano explained that he is exploring the panorama of social exclusion and urban marginality in contemporary society; Flavia Monfrini said she seeks to identity narrative processes in the inland areas of Sicily; and Alberto Piacentini described his studies into the nature, evolution, and legal protections from domestic abuse and gender-based violence.

Vincenzo Buffa, meanwhile, presented his analysis of the governance models of community foundations in the territory of Palermo; Enza Maria Macaluso said she is developing practical and theoretical models of participation in Sicily’s inland communities, starting with an experimental, participatory path based on the Philosophy for Communities (P4C) method; and Francesca Barbino noted she is exploring how children may participate in co-designing public policies on comprehensive sexuality education.

The orientation meeting was a great opportunity to get to know the new “Pedro Arrupe” fellows and to hear directly from them about their research topics, which were inspired by their desire to contribute to the well-being of the people and communities of Sicily. We are very happy to welcome the six fellows into the Sylff community and wish them great success in advancing their research and social engagement initiatives.