제2차 ‘지구화’와 미국에서의 일본학 연구의 신경향

The Second Globalization and New Trends in the Studies of Japan in the United States

This is a brief report about the recent research trend on modern and contemporary Japan in North American academia. I have categorized various research trends into the following five topics: 1) International Multilateral Institutions; 2) State; 3) Civil Society; 4) Gender/Sexuality; 5) Culture. These topics are linked to the on-going discussion of what direction Japan should take in confronting long-term economic difficulties and corollary political, social, and cultural changes. The discussion, in turn, is posed into the larger context with a question of: how do we understand the phenomena of globalization in our time?