Citizenship and Minorities

　This study group has analyzed the formation of the concept of “citizenship” as well as the transitions of the concept. The main subject of our group has centered around the possibility of forming the concept of citizenship in the context of the contemporary world, by analyzing Asian and African countries in particular. While the Nation-State necessitates the sharing of citizenship, the actual unity of people as well as the formation of the nation requires demarcation of the citizenship such that “others” are often demarcated from citizens. This endeavor of demarcation provides us with difficult issues such as how to legally authorize the fact of differentia inside the national boundary, so that a “constitution” of a country can be formed. With demarcation against and homogenization among a nation, minorities are constantly spotlighted as entities. Based on the actual result of the study group of the Institute of Legal Studies, Kansai University, and aid from the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, our group of minority studies was formed. Most of our group member has collaborated on minority issues for almost ten years. This study group has become a ‘community’ which contributed to constituent members’ academic maturing, while being a pioneering group of minority studies in Japan.

Nobuo KOCHU (Group Leader)

JAPANESE