Sustainable Futures: Overcoming Disparities
As societies grapple with forces of globalization and massive environmental changes, what are the best ways for envisioning and materializing a sustainable future for communities of care that support precarious and marginalized bodies? Addressing this question is vital due to the general trend of globalization that disproportionately benefits able-bodied, non-elderly groups who live in cities. Conversely, studies have shown that the negative impacts of globalization disproportionately affect certain communities, namely elderly, disabled, and rural inhabitants. In light of a global present and future tied to globalization and featuring an unending array of severe environmental problems that challenge the sustainably of any economic programs based on policies of globalization, it is imperative to draw up learnings and practices that would transform the living environments of precarious communities to allow for more sustainable and inclusive societies
Through Research Clusters, Sustainable Futures: Overcoming Disparities at The Claremont Colleges (led by Claremont McKenna College and EnviroLab) tackles the relationship between globalization and sustainability and imagines futures where globalization is more inclusive, equips individuals with the appropriate means to deal with changes, and can meet its original lofty promises, especially in a world facing a number of environmental challenges. In particular, this project engages this form of study and imagination by studying how this relationship between globalization and environmental challenges has played out in and influenced elderly, disabled, and rural communities in Japan, the United States, and select Asia-Pacific countries. The chief objective of this project is to create models of learning, knowledge, and practice for approaching the study of globalization and sustainability and developing practices and systems for a sustainable, inclusive life under globalization
This project is supported by the Japan Foundation, EnviroLab, The Office of the President at Claremont McKenna College, The Gould Center for Humanistic Studies at Claremont McKenna College and the Berger Institute for Individual and Social Development at Claremont McKenna College
Research Clusters
Rural Futures
Goals
1. To explore how globalization has impacted the rural economy and culture in the face of declining rural populations and social services and environmental issues, including climate change, in the countryside of Japan, the United States, and Asia-pacific.
2. To explore the changing relationship between rural and urban communities under globalization
3. Develop suggestions and approaches on how to design a program of rural renewal that would strengthen the rural economy, create resilient local communities that would be able to deal with the effects of climate change and form more transnational networks of support between rural communities.
Team
Project Director and Co-PI: Albert L. Park (Director of Project and Co-PI, Claremont McKenna College)
- Arakawa Tomoko, Asian Rural Institute (ARI) (Director)
- Nishikawa Kunio, Ibaraki University (Agricultural Economics)
- Wada Yoshihiko, Doshisha University (Enviromental Economics)
- Lily Geismer, Claremont McKenna College (U.S. History)
- Marc Los Huertos, Pomona College (Geochemistry)
- Tamara Venit-Shelton, Claremont McKenna College (U.S. History)
- Andrew Wald, Interboro (Architecture)
- Branwen Williams, Claremont McKenna College (Environmental Science, Climatology)
- Chisato Kamakura (EnviroLab/Gould Fellow/CMC student)
- Jiyeon Kim (EnviroLab/Gould Fellow/CMC student)
- Diana Zhou (EnviroLab/Gould Fellow/CMC student)
- Phimonphan Sakitram, Organic Farmer Activist and Deputy Director of Nan Community College, Thailand (Sustainable Farming and Resource Management)
- Yi Luo, Director of Laotu (An NGO promoting rural-urban relations in China)
- Yen-ling Tsai, Tu La Ke, Land Dyke (A farming cooperative in Taiwan)
Smart Cities and Japan
Goals
2. Explore the political, economic, and security relationship between rural and urban communities in Japan through the lens of smart cities
3. Develop policy suggestions for “sustainable futures” with comparative analysis as the end goal
Team
Co-PI: Tom Le (Pomona College
- Sebastian Maslow (Shirayuri Women’s College, Research Collaborator, Japan
- Paul Midford (Meiji Gakuin University, Research Collaborator, Japan)
- Kunihiro Nishimura (Xcoo), Research Collaborator, Japan)
- Masahiko Haraguchi (Harvard University, Research Collaborator, United States)
- Hisayo Murakoshi (Shizuoka University, Invited Speaker, Japan)
- Tom Le (Pomona College, Core Researcher, United States)
- Aina Yukawa (Claremont McKenna College, Student Reserach Assistant, United States)
Livability for Elderly in the Urban Setting
Goals
2. Create a broader discussion among developers, helpers, and researchers from the U.S and Japan on this topic of elderly care and care technologies
Team
Co-PIs: Angelina Chin (Pomona College) and Seo Young Park (Scripps College)
Collaborators from Japan/ Asia:
- Miyazaki Utako (Telenoid Healthcare Company, CEO; NPO the Medicine, Care, and Citizen’s Network for Local Cohabitation, Research Collaborator, Japan)
- Hiroi Yutaka (Osaka Institute of Technology, Research Collaborator, Japan)
- Tanata Masahiro, TANABE Shusaku (People’s Design Institute, Research Collaborator, Japan)
- Lee Jieun (Yonsei University, Research Collaborator, Korea)
- Jeon Chi Hyung (Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Research Collaborator, Korea)
- Shin Hui Seon (Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Research Collaborator, Korea)
- Seo Young Park (Scripps College, Core Researcher, United States)
- Angelia Chin (Pomona College, Core Researcher, United States)
- Yui Kurosawa (Claremont McKenna College, Student Research Assistant, United States)
- Luna Schaffer (Claremont McKenna College, Student Research Assistant, United States)
Why It Matters
Collectively, the disabled, rural, and elderly communities in Japan, the United States, and Asia-Pacific countries make-up a significant portion of the global population. This large number of people face challenges, which are rooted in past and present, in figuring out pathways for living under globalization and volatile environmental conditions–two trends that will continue into the future. The failure to address the barriers, inequities, and issues faced by these communities have the potential to only increase more inequalities that could lead to social discord and rising dissatisfaction by the public toward established institutions. Importantly, addressing these challenges has the potential to further empower communities to overcome human and nonhuman barriers and create new conditions of living and working
Outcomes and Deliverables
Sustainable Futures expects to produce an array of deliverables through multiple mechanisms:
Rural Futures
Academic and public-essays and study manuals (to be published starting in summer 2025)
Livability for Elderly in the Urban Setting
Study manuals (to be published starting in summer 2025)
Smart Cities and Japan
Academic papers and op-eds (to be published starting in summer 2025)