Date:April 20, 2009 (Mon.) 16：00～18：00
Venue: Meeting Room, the 3rd floor, Inamori Foundation Memorial Hall
Presentation:
1. Fujita, Koichi,
“Agricultural Society, Industrial Society, and Next?”
2. Fujita, Motoko,
“An Interdependency between Human and Birds in Urban Environment”
3. Hayashi, Takahisa,
“Reconstruction of GCOE project in Riau, Sumatra”
4. Hayami, Yoko, “Relatedness of Life in the Human Realm: Rethinking Reproduction towards Sustainable Humanosphere;
【Record of Activity】In his report, Professor Koichi Fujita focused attention on the concept of “poverty push,” which cites resource constraints caused by population increases as an example of a trigger precipitating a shift from agrarian society to industrial society. In doing so, Professor Fujita highlighted the view, held by some, that contemporary Asian society experiences suffering because it has been partially subsumed within industrial society. Given that it is impossible at this stage for Asian society to return to being an agrarian society, the path of development through improvement of agrarian productivity, which ultimately determines the success or failure of industrialization, should not so easily be rejected; it was in this sense that Professor Fujita said he was not convinced by the concept, embraced by this GCOE, of “from production to subsistence.” The report by researcher Motoko Fujita cited the reciprocal relationship between birds and people in urban environments as an example of unanticipated mutual interaction between the humanosphere and the biosphere. Dr. Fujita illustrated this idea by referring to the fact that while urbanization reduces avian diversity in general, certain birds nonetheless adapt to the urban ecological system and make use of unusual materials carried into the city from outside, in doing so affecting the functioning of the ecological system. The report by Associate Professor Takahisa Hayashi introduced collaborative research sites in the Riau province of Sumatra, in Indonesia. Hayashi also described the framework for future projects and outlined progress to date. As an example of collaborative research projects, Hayashi presented an integrated study bringing together his own experiments and field studies, consisting of development through experiments on trees that can be easily saccharified, as well as a field research of tree species in natural forests. The report by Professor Yoko Hayami extended the her view which interpreted the reproduction of families, the labor force and social systems as “relatedness of lives” and in this way reexamined the realm of reproduction, previously were subordinated to production-centered systems, striving toward a freer way of living. Comparing the production of “modern families” in Europe with that of “families” in Southeast Asia, she found that in the latter case, the reproduction of relationships constituting the basis of the succession of life was not limited to biological linkage alone.
A number of questions and comments arose in response to the reports above, and a lively discussion ensued. Among questions regarding industrialization, one person commented that the explanation of industrialization put forward under the concept of poverty push seemed like a one-sided way of looking at the causes of industrialization. Another person pointed to a conflict in the assertion that while partial industrialization is problematic, industrialization is necessary, and suggested that the expression “from production to subsistence” provided an important cue in discussing how to solve this conflict. Regarding cities and ecology systems, others in the audience argued that it is important for us to find a point of balance between production and conservation of ecology systems, and that it is essential that we consider how to design a city from an ecological viewpoint. Regarding family and reproduction, someone asked what sort of reproduction holds wider significance to the public beyond the private domain. A comment from the floor highlighted the danger that too much emphasis on reproduction in the context of culture and semantic systems may limit discussion on Humanosphere to reproduction issues alone.
Through these discussions, a bridge was created at the seminar between various past initiatives and new activities, enabling a deeper level of discussion regarding the expression “from production to subsistence.”
(Fumikazu Ubukata)