[CGS 10th Anniversary Symposium]
Shingo HORI
Junkenkyuin (Associate Researcher), CGS; Doctoral Program (Sociology), Graduate School of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University
[The article below is the same as the article that appears in the seventeenth issue of the CGS Newsletter.]
Recurring incidents of hate speech targeting Zainichi Koreans and foreigners have spread beyond Tokyo and Osaka to other regions of Japan over the past year. The ongoing counter-protests against this racism have also garnered attention, and hate speech is gradually being recognized as a social problem.
What can gender and sexuality studies contribute to this evolving debate? This session will critically examine the rising intensity of racism in our society from the perspective of gender and sexuality. For this purpose, we have invited two guest speakers whose research has focused on the multi-layered relationship between sexism and racism: Natsuno Kikuchi of Nagoya City University and Yeonghae Jung of Otsuma Women's University. It is hoped that their insights will stimulate fruitful discussion among all the participants.
At this session, I think it will be vital to consider the issue of "comfort women" and the Japanese army in relation to this debate. The fact that Japanese society has continued to proceed without facing up to this issue has not only fostered a climate in which hate speech can go unchallenged on our streets but also provided a foundation for the radical-right regime that is the second Abe administration. In fact, I believe that this neglect has nurtured a society that can ignore the pleas of those who have suffered from discrimination and violence. This session aims to elucidate this problem by deconstructing the conflicting narratives of states, social movements, and identities.