Who are the agents of peace? In international politics, we often use the terms peace-building and peace-making, but tend to avoid asking a simple question: who will make peace and for whom? Not only the Realists but also the Liberalists presuppose the United States, a major power, as the main actor to end wars and make peace. However, as we know from the experiences of military intervention and anti-terrorist wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it seems obvious that peacemaking is not possible without popular support from the grassroots level.

In this paper, the author introduces the alternative approaches in terms of the Subaltern Studies as well as Gender Studies. Both have their intellectual origins in popular movements for empowerment and advocacy: the former was proposed by a group of historians who witnessed people power in 1977 to overthrow a coercive Indian government under Indira Gandhi, while the latter has developed in tandem with women’s movements in various parts of the world and backed by international society since the International Women’s Year of 1975.

The Subaltern Studies criticize the state-centric discourse that was planted by European imperialism and reestablished by nation-states in postcolonial societies. When people resist, they are “pacified” by the military and police. Gender Studies counters the framework of male-dominated societies. When women disobey patriarchal order, they are cruelly punished. Such marginalized people and women have not had the power to have their voices heard until very recently.

As Sigmund Freud discovered about individuals, in order to create inclusive and sustainable peace, it is essential to listen to the voices of people who have been suffering violence and oppression. The Subaltern studies and Gender Studies propose new intellectual methods to break the silence of marginalized people and learn from them, and this may open a gate to reconciliation and peace and lead to a democratic order in the true sense.

In this paper, first, I consider Ryukyu, widely known as Okinawa, to be a Japanese colony in a historical, political, and economic context. My argument is based on national theories as developed by Plato, Hermann Heller, and Will Kymlicka. By analyzing the meaning behind the U.S. military relocation from Ryukyu as well as the Restoration of Sovereignty Day, I pose the question, is it possible to talk about justice in Ryukyu?

Next, I present evidence on how Ryukyuans could regain their sovereignty, building upon the philosophical thought of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and international law. I further discuss how Ryukyuans have been constituted as subjects of decolonization, employing Kimlicka’s concept of national minorities. I argue that Ryukyuans have the right to rebuild their state and that their struggle for independence is an integral part of the global decolonization movement.

Finally, bearing in mind that Ryukyu has recently become a battlefield again, its independence is a necessary choice in order to achieve peace. The latter is also the main objective of the Association of Comprehensive Studies for Independence of the Lew Chewans (ACSILs), which facilitates interdisciplinary discussions about the independence of Ryukyu by bridging academic research and independence movements.

A legal framework that guarantees human rights without coercion, violence and discrimination is crucial for social relations. It therefore becomes vital to work towards citizenship for individuals who are regarded as socially vulnerable: women, children, cultural minorities, immigrants, etc. This paper examines how citizenship could be uplifted from nationality in order to foster solidarity among citizens, by focusing on foreigners’prospects of citizenship. In Europe, as a result of the free movement of people, a transnational citizenship of the European Union (EU) was created. Although it continues to function on a national level, it makes possible the peaceful coexistence of nations who were historically involved in a variety of conflicts. This was further strengthened by the introduction of jus soli and dual citizenship into the national legislations of many European countries. However a significant number of non European residents within the EU remain excluded from the opportunity to acquire citizenship, especially in terms of political rights, which in turn is a major factor of instability within the European Community. With regard to Japan, despite the increase in the number of permanent residents, political citizenship continues to be closely related to nationality, and therefore, voting rights for immigrants in local elections have not yet been established. The recent political tensions in the East Asian region further complicate the situation. Countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia grew as immigration countries. However, foreign workers there are treated as short-term cheap labor, which deprives of any possibility to access citizenship rights. Thus, it could be concluded that Asia lacks the European model of free movement and citizenship for immigrants, which makes it difficult to guarantee peace and human rights as the EU does.

The current paper employs an Area Studies approach to examine how local people were discouraged from discussing their anxiety about low-level radiation two months after the Fukushima nuclear accident. The activities undertaken by civil society groups to counter such dynamics will be further discussed based on my personal experiences.

As a result of the disaster, a plume of radioactive materials spread over a wide area of the city of Fukushima, which is located 60 km from the nuclear power plant. However, rather than taking decisive action for protection against the radiation, the previous government implemented a “safety campaign” to ease the anxiety of local people. This campaign included the involvement of scientists, efforts to re-open schools, and a new radiation criterion of 20mSv/year. This was a reflection of governmental and bureaucratic policies that prioritized economic efficiency at the expense of the people living in disaster-affected areas. These policies focused on emphasizing “safety” when communicating with local people, but ended up discouraging the people from speaking out, taking action, and dissenting. Although there were several proactive civil society groups that supported the efforts of local people, funding, information, and authority remained a governmental prerogative. This situation has decreased the number of alternatives available to people as well as their freedom of speech.

This paper discusses several possible approaches to oppose and change the present situation. These can be undertaken by empathic individuals and groups who concern themselves with local people’ s frustrations, caused by structural violence.

In Japan, poor labor conditions are closely related to the buildup of military forces. In thinking about labor, the question of what it means to live in peace is raised. This paper investigates 1) what system of everyday labor could allow people to live in peace, and 2) what kinds of learning can enable us to create such systems.

To answer these questions, I analyze an educational practice in Hata, a district located in western Kochi Prefecture. The inhabitants of Hata have sought to create a system enabling them to live and work in a more peaceful environment. In the 1980s, high school teachers involved in the teacher’s union, as well as their students, investigated and held hearings for fishermen from Kochi Prefecture who had become victims of American nuclear experiments as crew members on Japanese tuna fishing boats active in the Marshall Islands in the 1950s. The teachers and students learned about the exploitation involved in the labor system through this investigation, and came to understand that the harder inhabitants of the region worked, the poorer their lives within the system would be.

In the late 1990s, Masatoshi Yamashita, in collaboration with inhabitants of the region who agreed with his idea, was a key initiator of an educational practice that attempted to create a labor system; this educational practice was conducted to spur high school students to live their lives in their own way. To create such a system, the wisdom of the inhabitants of the region, regarding their struggle to labor in coexistence with nature, was studied. Yamashita and the inhabitants of the region found that their labor, through their engagement with the ecosystem, was interrelated. In this educational practice, Yamashita’s mission was to recreate relations between workers through a consideration of the ecosystem. In 2009, they created a regional market enabling workers hoping to protect the nature of the region and other local inhabitants to meet each other.

The findings of this paper are as follows. 1) A labor system that enables life in peace is one in which people take care of nature and the inhabitants of the region in which they live, not one that facilitates competition between workers. 2) The system can be mediated through studying the wisdom people have acquired through their struggle to labor in coexistence with nature.

This article considers the role of the Consumer Citizenship Society in developed countries in solving the problems of the producing areas in developing countries. The structure of the world economy has led to global issues such as poverty, labor exploitation, environmental destruction, and conflict minerals. With the development of concepts such as consumer citizenship, ethical consumption, and social responsibility, consumers benefitting from the world economic structure have come to be expected to act in ways that fulfill the social responsibility required to solve such issues.

In one such instance, this article examines the problem of conflict minerals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Armed groups engaging in human rights violations in eastern DRC utilize the profit from the production and trade of gold, tantalum, tin, and tungsten (3TG). To address this issue, two regulations on Congolese conflict minerals were enacted in 2010: “Due Diligence Guidance” by the OECD and “Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act” in the United States. These regulations aim to curtail funding sources for armed groups in the DRC by imposing public disclosure and reporting requirements on issuers that use 3TG in their manufacturing processes.

However, there is much debate among experts on whether these regulations contribute to a resolution of the conflict situation in the DRC. There is also a concern for costs that companies and consumers would have to bear as a result of the regulations. This raises the question of why countries have decided to enact such burdensome regulations in light of the large regulatory cost burden balanced against an unclear regulatory effect. Through an analysis of the debate over trade regulations for conflict minerals, this article delineates the role of the Consumer Citizenship Society and consumer awareness on ethical consumption.

Who are the agents of peace? In international politics, we often use the terms peace-building and peace-making, but tend to avoid asking a simple question: who will make peace and for whom? Not only the Realists but also the Liberalists presuppose the United States, a major power, as the main actor to end wars and make peace. However, as we know from the experiences of military intervention and anti-terrorist wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it seems obvious that peacemaking is not possible without popular support from the grassroots level.

In this paper, the author introduces the alternative approaches in terms of the Subaltern Studies as well as Gender Studies. Both have their intellectual origins in popular movements for empowerment and advocacy: the former was proposed by a group of historians who witnessed people power in 1977 to overthrow a coercive Indian government under Indira Gandhi, while the latter has developed in tandem with women’s movements in various parts of the world and backed by international society since the International Women’s Year of 1975.

The Subaltern Studies criticize the state-centric discourse that was planted by European imperialism and reestablished by nation-states in postcolonial societies. When people resist, they are “pacified” by the military and police. Gender Studies counters the framework of male-dominated societies. When women disobey patriarchal order, they are cruelly punished. Such marginalized people and women have not had the power to have their voices heard until very recently.

As Sigmund Freud discovered about individuals, in order to create inclusive and sustainable peace, it is essential to listen to the voices of people who have been suffering violence and oppression. The Subaltern studies and Gender Studies propose new intellectual methods to break the silence of marginalized people and learn from them, and this may open a gate to reconciliation and peace and lead to a democratic order in the true sense.

In this paper, first, I consider Ryukyu, widely known as Okinawa, to be a Japanese colony in a historical, political, and economic context. My argument is based on national theories as developed by Plato, Hermann Heller, and Will Kymlicka. By analyzing the meaning behind the U.S. military relocation from Ryukyu as well as the Restoration of Sovereignty Day, I pose the question, is it possible to talk about justice in Ryukyu?

Next, I present evidence on how Ryukyuans could regain their sovereignty, building upon the philosophical thought of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and international law. I further discuss how Ryukyuans have been constituted as subjects of decolonization, employing Kimlicka’s concept of national minorities. I argue that Ryukyuans have the right to rebuild their state and that their struggle for independence is an integral part of the global decolonization movement.

Finally, bearing in mind that Ryukyu has recently become a battlefield again, its independence is a necessary choice in order to achieve peace. The latter is also the main objective of the Association of Comprehensive Studies for Independence of the Lew Chewans (ACSILs), which facilitates interdisciplinary discussions about the independence of Ryukyu by bridging academic research and independence movements.

A legal framework that guarantees human rights without coercion, violence and discrimination is crucial for social relations. It therefore becomes vital to work towards citizenship for individuals who are regarded as socially vulnerable: women, children, cultural minorities, immigrants, etc. This paper examines how citizenship could be uplifted from nationality in order to foster solidarity among citizens, by focusing on foreigners’prospects of citizenship. In Europe, as a result of the free movement of people, a transnational citizenship of the European Union (EU) was created. Although it continues to function on a national level, it makes possible the peaceful coexistence of nations who were historically involved in a variety of conflicts. This was further strengthened by the introduction of jus soli and dual citizenship into the national legislations of many European countries. However a significant number of non European residents within the EU remain excluded from the opportunity to acquire citizenship, especially in terms of political rights, which in turn is a major factor of instability within the European Community. With regard to Japan, despite the increase in the number of permanent residents, political citizenship continues to be closely related to nationality, and therefore, voting rights for immigrants in local elections have not yet been established. The recent political tensions in the East Asian region further complicate the situation. Countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia grew as immigration countries. However, foreign workers there are treated as short-term cheap labor, which deprives of any possibility to access citizenship rights. Thus, it could be concluded that Asia lacks the European model of free movement and citizenship for immigrants, which makes it difficult to guarantee peace and human rights as the EU does.

The current paper employs an Area Studies approach to examine how local people were discouraged from discussing their anxiety about low-level radiation two months after the Fukushima nuclear accident. The activities undertaken by civil society groups to counter such dynamics will be further discussed based on my personal experiences.

As a result of the disaster, a plume of radioactive materials spread over a wide area of the city of Fukushima, which is located 60 km from the nuclear power plant. However, rather than taking decisive action for protection against the radiation, the previous government implemented a “safety campaign” to ease the anxiety of local people. This campaign included the involvement of scientists, efforts to re-open schools, and a new radiation criterion of 20mSv/year. This was a reflection of governmental and bureaucratic policies that prioritized economic efficiency at the expense of the people living in disaster-affected areas. These policies focused on emphasizing “safety” when communicating with local people, but ended up discouraging the people from speaking out, taking action, and dissenting. Although there were several proactive civil society groups that supported the efforts of local people, funding, information, and authority remained a governmental prerogative. This situation has decreased the number of alternatives available to people as well as their freedom of speech.

This paper discusses several possible approaches to oppose and change the present situation. These can be undertaken by empathic individuals and groups who concern themselves with local people’ s frustrations, caused by structural violence.

In Japan, poor labor conditions are closely related to the buildup of military forces. In thinking about labor, the question of what it means to live in peace is raised. This paper investigates 1) what system of everyday labor could allow people to live in peace, and 2) what kinds of learning can enable us to create such systems.

To answer these questions, I analyze an educational practice in Hata, a district located in western Kochi Prefecture. The inhabitants of Hata have sought to create a system enabling them to live and work in a more peaceful environment. In the 1980s, high school teachers involved in the teacher’s union, as well as their students, investigated and held hearings for fishermen from Kochi Prefecture who had become victims of American nuclear experiments as crew members on Japanese tuna fishing boats active in the Marshall Islands in the 1950s. The teachers and students learned about the exploitation involved in the labor system through this investigation, and came to understand that the harder inhabitants of the region worked, the poorer their lives within the system would be.

In the late 1990s, Masatoshi Yamashita, in collaboration with inhabitants of the region who agreed with his idea, was a key initiator of an educational practice that attempted to create a labor system; this educational practice was conducted to spur high school students to live their lives in their own way. To create such a system, the wisdom of the inhabitants of the region, regarding their struggle to labor in coexistence with nature, was studied. Yamashita and the inhabitants of the region found that their labor, through their engagement with the ecosystem, was interrelated. In this educational practice, Yamashita’s mission was to recreate relations between workers through a consideration of the ecosystem. In 2009, they created a regional market enabling workers hoping to protect the nature of the region and other local inhabitants to meet each other.

The findings of this paper are as follows. 1) A labor system that enables life in peace is one in which people take care of nature and the inhabitants of the region in which they live, not one that facilitates competition between workers. 2) The system can be mediated through studying the wisdom people have acquired through their struggle to labor in coexistence with nature.

This article considers the role of the Consumer Citizenship Society in developed countries in solving the problems of the producing areas in developing countries. The structure of the world economy has led to global issues such as poverty, labor exploitation, environmental destruction, and conflict minerals. With the development of concepts such as consumer citizenship, ethical consumption, and social responsibility, consumers benefitting from the world economic structure have come to be expected to act in ways that fulfill the social responsibility required to solve such issues.

In one such instance, this article examines the problem of conflict minerals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Armed groups engaging in human rights violations in eastern DRC utilize the profit from the production and trade of gold, tantalum, tin, and tungsten (3TG). To address this issue, two regulations on Congolese conflict minerals were enacted in 2010: “Due Diligence Guidance” by the OECD and “Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act” in the United States. These regulations aim to curtail funding sources for armed groups in the DRC by imposing public disclosure and reporting requirements on issuers that use 3TG in their manufacturing processes.

However, there is much debate among experts on whether these regulations contribute to a resolution of the conflict situation in the DRC. There is also a concern for costs that companies and consumers would have to bear as a result of the regulations. This raises the question of why countries have decided to enact such burdensome regulations in light of the large regulatory cost burden balanced against an unclear regulatory effect. Through an analysis of the debate over trade regulations for conflict minerals, this article delineates the role of the Consumer Citizenship Society and consumer awareness on ethical consumption.