Comparative study on the perception of Northeast Asia in Western political thought

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K01412
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 06010:Politics-related
• Research Institution: Nara University (2019-2022); Osaka University (2018)
• Principal Investigator: Takenaka Yutaka 奈良大学, 社会学部, 教授 (00171661)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 北東アジア / ロシア帝国 / 先住民 / 移民 / シベリア地域主義 / チベット仏教

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research clarified the way in which Western countries viewed Northeast Asia and reflected their image of the region on external policies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In this period, Western powers attached greater strategic importance to this region, though they gradually lost confidence in their own ability to exert civilizing influence. Their perception of the region had increasing significance in both political and intellectual aspects.
The main focus of this research is paid to the Russian Empire. Its political self-consciousness was unique and different from that of other Western powers, but Russia was too westernized to join the Northeast Asian region as its qualified and equal member. In this complex situation, Russian political thinkers searched for a new national identity with which to govern the vast territory. Analyzing their discussion, this research showed their contribution toward deeper historical understanding of empires in general.

Free Research Field

西洋政治思想史・比較政治

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、帝国統治における文化と政治の関係の分析を通じて、文化的な異質性は必ずしも民族間の政治的敵対をもたらさず、文化的な近さは政治的な親和性を保証しないことを明らかにした。この認識は、帝国から移行した政治秩序における民族問題を考える際にも当てはまるであろう。特に、ロシアと同様、領域内に異なった文化的特徴を有する民族を含む中国について考える際に役立つ視点を提供する。それゆえ本研究の成果は、比較史的研究の発展に資するのみでなく、文化と政治の複雑な関係が帝国解体後の歩みに及ぼす影響についての認識の深化につながるものであり、現代の国際政治を理解する上でも少なからず意味を持つはずである。