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What we aim to achieve
 

 Chiba Studies on Global Fair Society aim to seek for a way to achieve “fairness” under the global economy of the 21st century. The project focus on issues such as widening income gaps, gender inequality, human rights violation, and social exclusion, not only from a domestic perspective, but also with a global eye, including refugees, migrant foreign workers, and cross-border environmental pollution. The key concept of our project is “fairness”. We define “fairness” as a concept that entails the basic element of justice, but at the same time embrace values such as “equality”, “liberty”, and “equity”. In that sense, we identify “fairness” as a norm and concept that exceeds “justice”. In order to achieve our goal, we will explore discussions on “fairness” from four sub-fields of social science; law, political science, economics, and sociology. Our project will actively (1) promote multiple inter-disciplinary research, (2) conduct empirical studies that will contribute to a better understanding of contemporary issues, and (3) build an international research hub for “fairness” in public affairs. Members engage in educational activities at graduate and undergraduate levels and take roles in public duties in order to contribute in building a “fair” society, both within and outside of the academia.

Characteristics

The most notable feature is interdisciplinary. When thinking about “fairness,” it is impossible to tackle contemporary global challenges if researchers stay within their academic fields. Within Fair Society Research, researchers across Chiba University,such as law,politics, economics,and sociology, are pursuing research for a fair society beyond the boundaries of the fields. The second is global research development. Every year, we invite globally renowned researchers to international symposiums on fairness held in Chiba. The third is that we are trying to approach the essence of “fairness” from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Some members probe into philosophy and ideology, while others analyze social problems of the real world to make policy recommendations or make statements to the media. Government councils and the United Nations are using these achievements.

Activities

We plan to broaden our networks of academics across the globe. Every year, we invite globally renowned researchers to international symposiums on fairness. Our project has published books and papers in both Japanese and English based on our research outcomes, and we plan further publications to better reach a broader public.

Members

Project Leader

 Jiro Mizushima Professor. European Politics, Comparative Politics


Faculty Members

 Masaya Kobayashi  Professor. Political Philosophy
 Hikari Ishido  Professor. International Economics
 Takayuki Kawase  Professor. Philosophy of Law
 Xiang Li  Associate Professor. Faculty of Law and Economics
 Xiaofang Zhang  Assistant Professor. Environmental Policy Analysis
 Steve Fang  Project Researcher