On Monday, April 14, the Hamilton Lugar School's 21st Century Japan Politics and Society Initiative (21JPSI)* hosted Professor Philip Lipscy in its multidisciplinary “Japan Politics and Society” speaker series. Prof. Lipscy is a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, where he also serves as Chair in Japanese Politics and Global Affairs and Director of the Munk School’s Centre for the Study of Global Japan.
Roughly 50 students, faculty, staff, and community members attended Prof. Lipscy’s public lecture, titled “Japan: The Harbinger State.” During his visit to Bloomington, Lipscy also met over meals and coffee with IU faculty and graduate students, in addition to offering a guest lecture on Japanese foreign policy to 37 undergraduates enrolled in the East Asian Language and Cultures’ Department’s core “Introduction to East Asian Studies” course.
Lipscy’s public talk in the Japan Politics and Society speaker series highlighted findings from his recent study assessing the state of Japan studies in English-language political science and suggesting avenues for future research. In response to various headwinds facing Japan-focused research in political science, Lipscy discussed three possible responses: 1) attempt to “ignore the critics” of Japan/single-country-focused studies and continue to pursue research that treats Japan as “inherently important”; 2) focus analytical attention on Japan as “a case of something” and use it to test more general theories; 3) explore ways in which Japan’s experiences can serve as a source of new theoretical insights and policy lessons.
After highlighting the pros and cons of each response, Lipscy focused his attention on the “relatively neglected” third option as a way to “avoid marginalization of Japan studies within political science.” He drew special attention to prospects for research focusing on Japan’s role as a “harbinger state”—i.e., a country which experiences many policy challenges before others in the international system. He argued that such research can help scholars develop theoretical insights, assess early empirical evidence, and draw policy lessons for other countries about emerging challenges and the political contestation surrounding them.
After noting the three conditions for a country to be considered a “harbinger state”—the country must be early in confronting the policy challenge; it must be reasonable to expect that the same challenge will emerge elsewhere; and the issue’s proliferation must not be the result of outside imposition—Lipscy highlighted several reasons why Japan should be considered one. Of particular note are its experience with rapid economic development followed by deflationary stagnation; its aging and shrinking population; and its peaceful rise within a rapidly evolving postwar international order.
Following his remarks, Lipscy answered questions from an audience of enthusiastic students and faculty.
*The 21st Century Japan Politics and Society Initiative (21JPSI) was launched at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies in 2018. Under the leadership of Founding Director and HLS faculty member Adam Liff, 21JPSI aims to invigorate and expand research, teaching, and programming on contemporary Japanese politics, society, and international (esp. U.S.-Japan) relations, and to educate, raise awareness, and debate policy responses to the various political, social, and foreign policy challenges that Japan faces in this extremely dynamic era of 21st-century change. For more information about 21JPSI, please visit https://jpsi.indiana.edu/. To be informed about its future public events, please sign up for our event announcement mailing list.