In June 8th, International Christian University (ICU)'s Prof. Ikoma Natsumi and I organized an "Emergency Symposium" on Academic Freedom and Gender Studies, hosted by ICU's Center for Gender Studies and featuring a provocative keynote by Prof. Andrea Peto of Central European University (CEU) to comment on the political difficulties faced by her institution and her field of Gender Studies in Hungary.
ICU's journal Gender and Sexuality will publish our collected proceedings. I also wrote up a report for the LSE gender studies blog Engenderings: "From “Gender Bashing” to the Dangers of Co-Optation: Gender Studies in Japan."
In the global context in which civil society is squeezed by both populist nationalism and neoliberal capitalism, what is the role of scholars of gender? How can we forge solidarities and shape new analyses to counter contemporary challenges?