Tetsuro Okazaki: Am I an Imperialist?

I entered the Keio University Faculty of Economics in 1984, proceeded to graduate school, and became a researcher. My specialization is public economics, but my specific research themes are so diverse that I am amazed at myself. I have presented on the influence of media coverage at academic conferences with many political scientists, on the time consciousness of Japanese people at sociology conferences, and on a provision of the Meiji Constitution at conferences attended by historians.

This happened when I was presenting at a sociology conference in the United States. During a keynote speech by a prominent researcher, the term "economics imperialism" came up. It was a term I hadn't encountered in a long time. During my student days, I had read in books that economics is the field most worthy of being called a science among the social sciences, as it structures problems into models, solves those models using rigorous mathematical methods, and verifies the results with data. "Economics imperialism" is a term that describes the attitude, born from this way of thinking, of trying to analyze other social issues using the methods of economics.

Troublesomely, I was the next presenter. The first words out of my mouth were, "I am an economist, but I am not an imperialist, so please let me hear your opinions." Then, from the floor, I received not only questions about my awareness of the issues but also questions regarding equilibrium concepts like those a game theory expert would ask, making it a very rewarding time for me personally.

It is my honest feeling that I do not agree with economics imperialism. However, I also believe that thanks to being drilled in economics during my student days, I am now able to study themes handled in political science, sociology, history, and so on. The attitude of elucidating the complex and mysterious interactions between people with a warm heart and a cool, logical mind is exactly what I learned in economics. And I believe that such a way of thinking is desirable. In that sense, I might be an economics imperialist.

I always tell my students in the classroom: "Even if you just memorize these results, you'll only pass my exams or qualification exams. But if you study with an awareness of the attitude of logical consideration, even if you forget the correct answers for the exam, you will be more likely to think for yourself and make your own judgments when you face unknown problems in society." At the same time, I ask myself: Am I able to practice that without becoming an imperialist?