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TOPリスク研究センター経済学部附属リスク研究センターリスク研開催イベント情報2006年度セミナー・講演会情報一覧 ≫ セミナー報告 2006/11/28

セミナー報告 2006/11/28

リスク研究センターセミナー報告

Glenn Hook氏(シェフィールド大学教授)

『 External Risk, Self Responsibility and Governance:
The case of Japanese hostages in Iraq 』

日時:平成18年11月28日(火)16:00~18:00
会場:経済学部第二校舎棟5階 545共同研究室
司会:ロバート・アスピノール教授
Seminar
セミナー風景
Dr.Hook
Dr.Hook
Dr. Hook
講義するDr.Hook (左は司会のDr. Aspinall)

(セミナー概要)
Professor Hook used the concept of the risk faced by citizens when they travel outside the borders of the state to examine the changing nature of the relationship between the citizen and the state in the case of contemporary Japan. Due to Japan's pacifist constitution the Japanese government is unable to call on citizens to help defend the nation. It still feels obliged, however, to protect its people who may be threatened by harm outside the country's borders. Politicians who want to revise the constitution argue that the existing state of affairs is not sustainable and that Japan must become more like a 'normal' country, i.e. use its security forces to protect its citizens wherever they may be. Until the constitution is revised however Japan's leaders face a serious dilemma when Japanese people are exposed to serious risk outside Japan. This fact is illustrated by the problems raised when three Japanese people were kidnapped in Iraq in April 2004. When this happened the government was torn between two kinds of responsibility: firstly the simple responsibility to protect the lives of Japanese citizens; and secondly the responsibility to act according to the international norm that no concessions should be made to terrorists. For putting the government in this dilemma the three hostages when they were released were severely criticized by sections of the Japanese press. They were accused of being 'irresponsible' by refusing to listen to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) advice that stated that Iraq was a dangerous place that should not be traveled to. An alternative response was articulated by US Secretary of State Colin Powell who was quoted as praising the three Japanese for putting themselves at risk for the greater good. This quotation showed one of the differences between US and Japanese official attitudes to risk and responsibility. The whole case of the hostage crisis illustrates the fact that the Japanese government is trying to change the normative framework relating to citizens traveling overseas. The government wants to promote the notion of self-responsibility.

In the question-and-answer session that followed the talk, comparisons were drawn between different types of Japanese citizen traveling outside the state and exposing themselves to risk. The three people who were the victims of the 2004 hostage crisis were described in the Japanese press as leading a 'freeta' life style, i.e. being young and irresponsible (not settling down to a stable career and family). By comparison two diplomats who were killed in a separate incident in Iraq were described by the press in very favourable terms and were given posthumous promotions by MOFA. The difference was that the diplomats were working for the state: they were representatives of the state abroad. The 'freetas' on the other hand described themselves as working for universal values - not state-specific values. In the case of businessmen abroad there are no cases from Iraq, but in an earlier incident in the Philippines the employer of a kidnapped Japanese businessmen paid his ransom without question. This may also be connected to the notion that when agents of the state or business expose themselves to risk, it is not an entirely negative situation. On the contrary, in the case of business the risk might actually be the reason why they are there in the first place. Businesses are supposed to take risks and therefore adopt a positive attitude towards them. When individual citizens expose themselves to risk in the name of universal values, however, the concept of risk takes on an entirely negative connotation in the eyes of the state. Nothing good can come from this - only harm. (by Robert Aspinall)

(グレン・フック氏のプロフィール)
Glenn D. Hook is Professor of Japanese Politics and International Relations and Director of the Graduate School of East Asian Studies, the University of Sheffield, UK. He is the first Director of the National Institute of Japanese Studies, an international Centre of Excellence with Leeds University funded by the British authorities. His research interests are in Japanese politics, international relations and security, particularly in relation to East Asia. His recent work includes Japanese Responses to Globalization (coeditor, Palgrave, 2006); Japan's International Relations (coauthor, Routledge, 2005 (second edition) and Contested Governance in Japan: Sites and Issues (editor, 2005, RoutledgeCurzon).
               主催:滋賀大学経済学部附属リスク研究センター
                TEL:0749-27-1404(内線396) FAX:0749-27-1189
                 e-mail address:risk@biwako.shiga-u.ac.jp

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