[Nitobe Leadership Program Public Lecture] What is “Democracy”?

  • *This event has finished.
    • Lecturer: Saeki Keishi (Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University)
    • Date: Saturday, August 5, 2017, 1:30-3:00 pm
    • Venue: Lecture Hall, International House of Japan
    • Language: Only available in Japanese (without English interpretation)
    • Admission: Free (reservations required) Fully Booked
    Seventy years after World War, we are now facing terrorism and the rise of populism despite our desire for peace and security. What is the “democracy” that we had been pursuing? This lecture will re-examine the concept of democracy, which plays a fundamental role for most countries and explore the possibility of a new framework/order for today’s world.

    Saeki Keishi (Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University)

    Photo: Prof. Saeki is a Professor Emeritus at Kyoto University and a Specially Appointed Professor at Kokoro Research Center in Kyoto University. After completing a PhD in Economics at the University of Tokyo in 1979, he worked as a lecturer at the Faculty of Commercial Sciences of Hiroshima Shudo University, a research associate at the Faculty of Economics of Shiga University, and a professor at the Faculty of Integrated Human Studies and the Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies of Kyoto University. He explores various issues in modern society by combining a wide range of information across politics, economics, social studies and the history of ideas, examining the relationship between global economy and nations, the consequences of modern Western society and its philosophical background. Prof. Saeki has won the Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities (1985), the Tohata Memorial Prize (1994), the Yomiuri Prize for Scholars and Journalists (1997), and the Sankei Seiron Prize (2007). He is the author of Gendai bunmeiron kougi [A Lecture on Modern Civilization] (Chikuma Shinsho, 2011), Keizaigaku no hanzai [The Crime of Economics] (Kodansha, 2012), and Han minshushugiron [Anti-Democracy] (Shincho Shinsho, 2016).

    What is the “Nitobe Leadership Program”?

    The Nitobe Leadership Program (Nitobe Kokusai Juku in Japanese) started in 2008 to train young professionals from various organizations and corporations to become public-minded leaders, equipped with a broad perspective to function in an international environment both in and outside the country. The program invites professionals of various fields to speak on their experiences, allowing participants (Nitobe Leadership Fellows) to deepen their understanding of such themes as globalization and leadership. This year, Fellows will consider the theme, “The World in Confusion: Exploring a New World Order.” Some of the lectures are open to the general public.