International Workshop: Approaches and Methodologies of Field Research in Africa

更新日:2011/10/09

Date: On 1-2 September, 2011

Venue: JSPS Nairobi Research Station

Co-sponsor: The Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies & JSPS Nairobi Research Station

The event brought together young researchers from Japan and East Africa who are doing field research in and across such disciplines as cultural anthropology, sociology, ethnobotany, and area studies. They discussed their research activities and the approaches or methodologies they employ in carrying them out. The speakers described their own research processes as cases, touching upon histories of finding out their research concepts, relationships among informants, research assistants and them, experiences in securing funding, and the societal impact of their research results.

The some 20 participants enjoyed sharing ideas and information amidst an intimate atmosphere of colleagueship.

Though situated in Asia, Japan is energetically engaged in African research. Nevertheless, its research findings are not well known among academic societies in Africa and the West. It is believed that the discussion in this workshop on such subjects as doing basic research within the social sciences and the merits of interdisciplinary research can be of meaningful reference to academic societies in Africa, which tend to put their energy into promoting the kind of practicable studies that support socioeconomic development.

Opening Remarks

Soichiro Shiraishi, Ph.D.
Resident Director, JSPS Nairobi Research Station

It is great honor and pleasure for me and JSPS Nairobi to assist in opening this important workshop for the coming two days.  I am grad to see you, representatives of Kenyan, Ugandan and Japanese researchers of African Studies, of anthropology, of sociology, of ethno-biology, of ethnomusicology, and of NGOs.  I would like to welcome all of you.

It is my role and privilege as Opening Remarks speaker to give you a preview the pre-history and primary aim of this workshop for bridging to the Introduction of Dr. Shiino.

The population of Japanese researchers majored in African Studies is not small.  For instance, Japan association for African Studies was founded in 1964, it has more than 800 individual members in recent years.  However, fruits of their research were not introduced to Africa so much mainly because of the problems of language — most of them were published Japanese journals in Japanese language, so neither introduced to Europe nor US so much.

In this sense, we simply would like to know how do African researchers evaluate the works of Japanese researchers.  On the other hand, we Japanese researchers eager to know the academic situation of field research of social sciences and multi-disciplinal sciences in Eastern African Universities.  Are they under the tyranny of issue oriented short-term researches of Development Studies, saying “crisis in Africa”, ”poverty reduction”, “peace building” and so force?

Our first trial was on November 2007, the symposium titled “Re-Contextualizing Self/Other Issues: Toward a Humanities in Africa” at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda (the abstracts of the presentations are available on the web ＊), most of Japanese attendants of this Nairobi workshop were the organizers, including me.  Out of those discussions, Dr. Shiino and other researchers began to plan the continuous workshops and symposiums to develop our good academic communication and further collaboration.

There is a clear need for multidirectional communication and collaboration.　 I, as a researcher, will make my effort of networking, and keep in touch with researchers in sub-Saharan Africa.  And also I, as a director of JSPS Nairobi, will support to guide you to access JSPS grants that assist our collaborative works, see the documents I put in the folder as your references.

In last of my Opening Remarks, I will put thanks for the donors of this workshop.  This workshop is supported by the funds below.  They are;

・The Research Institute of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo
University of Foreign Studies, in their “Core Project; Pluralistic World Understanding
based on African Studies”
・Nairobi Research Station, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
・Other grants-in-aid of JSPS (Kakenhi) represented by Dr. Yasuaki Sato (21710257),
Ms Midori Daimon (10J04560), Dr. Wakana Shiino (20720236) and Dr. Soichiro
Shiraishi (22710261).

We would like to sincerely thank them for the support and bounty.

To know each other, discuss and share issues on our research; this is the primary aim of this workshop.  Be relax and let the tension out of our shoulders, I don’t want this workshop to be too formal, keep the mood of round-table discussion.

Thank you for your participation and attention.

Mr. Michael Oloka Obbo on his presentation

Group Photo of the Attendants