Project Leader: Shinji Kajitani

Fellows: Shinji Kajitani, Takahiro Nakajima, Shunya Yoshimi, Maki Sato

Symbiosis generally means relationships between two different kinds of living things, but in recent times the difficulty of symbiosis probably suggests that this diversity will be extremely complicated. As is typical in terms of nationality and gender, it is no longer possible to simply distinguish between Japanese and foreigners or between men and women. Various gradations exists in the two sides and the boundaries will also change according to circumstances. Regarding poverty, depopulation, education, labor, disability, illness, etc., it is not easy to understand who has the problems, what kinds of difficulties people have and where they are found since the circumstances have become much more complicated than before. For that reason we retract the boundary lines, which causes a new exclusion. On the problems of symbiosis from now on, constantly changing relationships between boundaries and exclusions must be taken into a multifaceted consideration. For the purpose, this project aims at international collaborations and interdisciplinary researches, which develops the activities not only in theoretical researches but also in social practices. As some specific examples, it will hold domestic and international workshops and seminars, engage in domestic and overseas researches, and make collaborative activities with external organizations such as NPO and NGO.