Research Projects

Field of Reconciliation

Human Security in Southeast Asia in the Era of the ASEAN Community

足立 研幾教授 写真

College of International Relations

Professor Kenki Adachi

足立 研幾教授 写真

This research project aims to contribute to various issues in Southeast Asia from the perspective of "human security"

集合写真

Southeast Asian countries have achieved remarkable progress in this past decade. In the deepening process of political, economic and social integration, many countries have shifted to democratic institutions. However, at the same time, economic disparity has widened and the number of people in poverty has increased under the surface of these developments. Additionally, threats of ethnic and religious conflicts and terrorism are increasing. From the perspective of "human security," this project aims to uncover these multiple issues that can easily become obscured. In this sense, we will attempt to shed light on issues that cannot be addressed at the national and regional levels through focusing on the security of each individual, which will lead to proposals for building a society in which people can live in peace. Moreover, our research project has the purpose of refining the concept of "human security" and reconstructing it into a paradigm more applicable for our twenty-first century world.

足立 研幾教授 写真

In the first year of the project, we will carry out theoretical research on the concept and policy of "human security" and conduct field surveys in Myanmar. In these field surveys, we not only plan to conduct qualitative surveys on the conditions of people in rural areas from the perspective of their ordinary lives, economy, and nutrition, but also on the situations of ethnic minorities. Even from the results of our preliminary surveys, it was revealed that illegal trades increased while the economy grew richer, and serious abuses of human rights occurred. Furthermore, after completing the second year of the project, we will evolve surveys on Indonesia and the Philippines for comparative analysis based on each research result. For the success of this project, it is also important to enhance our networking with researchers from Southeast Asian countries. To encourage the growth of these networks we plan to organize international workshops and symposiums to share our research achievements with scholars abroad.

This project will also provide an opportunity to train young researchers. Some researchers from the doctoral course will participate in our field surveys and theoretical researches.

This project considers the imminent issues of Southeast Asian countries today in terms of "human security", or, to put it differently, seeks "how to build a society in which people can live in peace". With this aim we intend not only to publish new findings for academic fields, but also to contribute to solving these issues through social policies and proposals.

Research Projects