Jun Kashima - Appointed in AY2021
Participant Profile
Jun Kashima
Chinese Economic History, East Asian Economic History1999: Graduated from the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Saitama University 2002: Completed the Master's Program in the Graduate School of Humanities, Tokyo Metropolitan University 2007: Completed coursework for the Doctoral Program in the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo 2010: Obtained a Ph.D. in Literature [Ph.D. (Literature)] from the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo After serving as a Project Assistant Professor at the Center for Contemporary Chinese Studies, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo, and as an Associate Professor and Professor at the Faculty of International Social Sciences, Yokohama National University, he assumed his current position in 2021. *Profile and position are as of the time of the interview.
Jun Kashima
Chinese Economic History, East Asian Economic History1999: Graduated from the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Saitama University 2002: Completed the Master's Program in the Graduate School of Humanities, Tokyo Metropolitan University 2007: Completed coursework for the Doctoral Program in the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo 2010: Obtained a Ph.D. in Literature [Ph.D. (Literature)] from the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo After serving as a Project Assistant Professor at the Center for Contemporary Chinese Studies, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo, and as an Associate Professor and Professor at the Faculty of International Social Sciences, Yokohama National University, he assumed his current position in 2021. *Profile and position are as of the time of the interview.
Economic History as an Interdisciplinary Field Spanning Both Economics and History
His Research Theme and How He Encountered It
I study the economic history of China. My primary focus is on the modern and contemporary periods, from the late 19th century to the present, and within that, I have been particularly interested in researching the socialist system that was established in the 1950s. What led me to this theme was a sentence from a book I read in a class during my first year of university that left a strong impression on me: "The individual, willful acts of people trying to escape the chaos can, as a result, create a massive, autonomous collective force that can kill people." From there, I became interested in the socialist system, which attempts to directly control society—a collection of human beings—through the state. I also originally loved world history and had initially planned to study the history of the British Empire at university. However, the professor of modern and contemporary Chinese history was so compelling that I decided to join his seminar. As a result, the combination of "socialism" and "China" was born.
A Message for Students
Economic history is an interdisciplinary field that spans both economics and history. I find its appeal and potential in the way it uses the abstract concepts and theories of economics to interpret history. Just as looking at contemporary society through the lens of economics reveals various aspects you wouldn't notice in everyday life, introducing an economic perspective to historical events brings to light facets that are not apparent from simply reading historical documents.
Furthermore, regarding my specialty, the modern and contemporary economic history of China, it focuses on the process of slow transformation (which is still ongoing) that China, a country with a long history, has undergone since the advance of Western countries in the mid-19th century. I believe the fascination lies in trying to capture such significant changes, which span longer than one's own lifetime and cannot be witnessed firsthand.
(Interview conducted in January 2022)