Current Institutional Affiliation
Professor Emeritus, Cultural Anthropology and Human Security Program, University of Tokyo

Award Information

Abe Fellowship 1997
Institutional Affiliation (at time of award):
Professor, Cultural Anthropology, University of Tokyo
Asians-in-Motion in an Age of the Transnational: The Case of San Francisco

Globalization in the sense of "transnationalization" is now our everyday sociocultural reality. To this point there has been much discussion of economic and political globalization, but less of its socio-cultural dimensions. Taking the case of "Asians-inmotion" in San Francisco in comparative perspective with cases in Tokyo and Hawaii, this research examines socio-cultural aspects of transnational processes. "Asians-inmotion" includes not only immigrants but also refugees, guest workers, students and tourists. Defining them as people between places, what is at stake is their identities produced through dynamic processes which transcend cultural and national boundaries. These kinds of identities will become a common mode of human existence in the 21st Century. The project, thus, contributes to the understanding of contemporary global issues and to policies related to the transnational flows of people from developing countries to advanced industrial societies, which are, of course, the fundamental theme of the Abe program.

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