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KOBAYASHI, Makoto

2023年6月27日更新

Research Areas

International Politics/International Relations; Peace Studies; Political Science

An anarchic world without global government, states covered by hard shells to protect themselves from enemies, alliances that cannot endure because of mutual distrust and suspicion—this is the worldviews that has formed the basis of international relations. To what extent might the rapid progress of globalization have transformed the basic structure of international relations?

I approach this kind of issue from the perspective of Critical Theory. A multilayered structure has taken shape in which various actors have come to participate in international relations, which in a narrower sense have been limited to intergovernmental relations, but this phenomenon is not in fact unique to the modern globalized era. Non-state actors have existed for a long time. What is at issue here is the subjective question of what international relations themselves have been understood to be in the first place, and how we perceive them. That is to say, we should be posing the question of why the original image of international relations as intergovernmental relations has come to be subject to criticism in recent years. It may be impossible to understand the implications of this shift in our view of international relations without departing from the standpoint of naïve positivism.

How do we look at the world? There is constant conflict around the globe and the risk of nuclear war remains, even if it has decreased somewhat. Economic disparities are only widening, and the destruction of the global environment is steadily becoming more serious. Terrorists are conducting clandestine maneuvers, illegal cross-border drone strikes have become everyday occurrences, and human rights abuses and crises of democracy are widespread in many countries around the world. The kinds of ideas that will allow us to overcome such global crises demand a level of thinking that goes beyond positivism. One prospect might be a normative approach that seeks to expand global democracy as well as deepening national democracy.

Education and Research Profile

I joined the faculty at Ochanomizu University in 2007. I previously conducted research overseas as a visiting researcher at el Colegio de México, Johns Hopkins University, University of Cambridge.

My view is that (the proper use of) voracious reading and intensive reading of the literature and thorough discussion are the starting point for acquiring a wealth of knowledge. Furthermore, although problem-solving approaches—which provide the solution within a given framework—are also important, I try to support a form of education whereby students keep a critical approach in mind as they go deeper into their studies, one that challenges the way a problem is itself posed. This is also a suggestion for my own research, of course, and I take efforts to continually revise my own work while criticizing the questions I have myself set. It takes a lot of work......

Learning about the world or, more figuratively speaking, “crossing borders” is a truly thrilling endeavor. This is because doing so can put your own background into new relative perspective at a stroke, and you are able to build yourself anew when emerging from that critical moment. I find that really interesting!

KOBAYASHI, Makoto

Research Areas

Education and Research Profile

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