Alternative Politics: Youth, Media, Performance and Activism in Urban Japan

Sophia University Yotsuya Campus
Bldg. #10, Room 301
July 10th, 2010;
10am-5pm
Language: English and Japanese

Abstract:
Beyond NPOs, young people in Japan are creating new politics and finding alternatives to what we think of the "political." New generations of activists are questioning and reshaping the very idea of political involvement by organizing through new avenues, forging new alliances, and staging demonstrations and performances that range from the everyday to the spectacular. Transformative uses of new media, art and space, urban and digital, public and private, are engaging young people in new ways, and revitalizing political possibilities. Approaching these connections from a variety of perspectives, we are looking for new critical languages and analytical devices to address this exciting turn of events.

Invited Speakers
Sharon Hayashi, York University
Carl Cassegard, University of Gothenburg, Kyoto University
Yoshitaka Mouri, Tokyo University of the Arts (Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku)

Organizer: David Slater (d-slater@sophia.ac.jp)

For more information:
http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/2010/Alternative_politics_conference.htm
http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/2010/Alternative_politics_conference_abstracts.htm