Professors Aleksandr Sklyar, Division of University Studies, and Emily Mitchell-Eaton, Department of Geography, joined Professor Daisaku Yamamoto at the launch of his book Everyday Life Environmentalism.
Professor Yamamoto explained how the book arose out of his geography and Asian studies course Sustainable Livelihoods in Asia, where the intent was to explore various socio-environmental issues in Asia, with a particular focus on Japan. Over time, it became clear that the discussions of local case studies, first using theories and concepts on human-environment relationships developed within Euro-American contexts, needed to have theories grounded in the realities of Asian places. Further, the book was to be accessible to undergraduate and early graduate students. Hence, an introduction to life-environmentalism and some empirical studies was developed.
Professor Mitchell-Eaton discussed how the case studies in their intimate and local nature reflected integral parts of feminist geography, which included critical approaches to nature, class, relationships as well as gender. While the lessons of such small-scale studies may not be universally applied, this doesn't mean that there aren't important lessons and messages to take away from these case studies.
Professor Sklyar, who brought to the discussion his experience as a cultural anthropologist in Japan and assisted with the translation of several chapter manuscripts, talked about the difficulty of translation, both of concepts and of the many meanings words themselves could possess. Further, he emphasized how the case studies were brought from Japan to the English-language literature, which brings light to aspects of Japanese culture that were largely understudied by non-Japanese language academia.
At the end of the panel, Professor Yamamoto thanked the many people who contributed to the book, including many important scholars in Hamilton and across Japan. Two of these contributors were Sophia Ferrero ’23 and Keegan Kessler ’23, Colgate alumni who wrote their senior theses based upon concepts from the Sustainable Livelihoods in Asia course.