Establishing a New Paradigm of Social/Human Sciences based on Relational Studies : In order to Overcome the Contemporary Global Crises

The main task of our Project is to discover solutions to the problems that the international community currently faces by analyzing contemporary phenomena such as refugee problems, the politics of hatred and exclusion, transnational violence, as well as environmental issues, the entirety of which can be considered to be a "global crisis".
For that purpose, we focus on the analysis of social, economic, and political relationships at various levels; from small-scale social relations in local communities to the wider levels of transnational, trans-state and globe-wide relations. The Project is intended to clarify the way in which social relations and their components are transformed quantitatively and qualitatively, to disclose how relationships synchronize with and influence each other, and to seek possibilities for the institutionalization of the relationships within the framework of state apparatuses and other existing systems.
We publicly call for ambitious research plans, both theoretical and empirical, from any researchers whose work has a close correspondence with the above motives of our research area. We especially expect empirical research studies (mainly based on field research) closely related to our planned research units (for details of the planned research units, please see our website: http://www.shd.chiba-u.jp/glblcrss/outline/index.html), or studies on the areas which the planned research units do not cover, such as East Asia, the Americas, and Russia and surrounding countries. We look forward to increased participation by young researchers in our Project.
The subjects of the research studies that we call for are:
C01: Studies on relationships between state regimes and social movements (both domestic and transnational), mainly in areas which are closely related to our planned research units , or areas such as East Asia, the Americas, and Russia and surrounding countries, which are not covered by our planned research (subjects related to the planned research of A01 and B02).
C02: Studies on the roles of regional integrative bodies and cooperative organizations as well as regional agreements, such as EU, ASEAN, FTAs, etc., in the economic, socio-cultural and political fields including security, and their impact on relationships among the member states (subjects related to the planned research of A02 and B03)
C03: Studies on the impacts of the global movement of people (such as migration and refugees) and the transfer of technology, information and thought through new methods on the variation, resonance, and consolidation of relationships (subjects related to the planned research of B01, B02 and B03).
C04: Studies which propose innovative frameworks and methods for the analysis of relationships, and which ambitiously pursue the establishment of interdisciplinary and cross-cutting theories and perspectives for relational studies (subjects related to any of the planned researches).
In our Project, research and studies will in principle be conducted jointly by several research units. We plan to accept publicly-invited research plans covering various aspects and scopes which do not necessarily correspond to our existing planned research.