Kaoruko Kawashima

I study the intellectual and cultural history of modern Japan, with an emphasis on the relationship between Japan and Western countries in the nineteenth century. I am also broadly interested in the production and circulation of knowledge in a global context.

My DPhil project is an interdisciplinary historical analysis of the transnational activities of a Japanese political activist in the late nineteenth century, as well as close readings of the activist’s thought in relation to European political thought. By exploring various cultural aspects, including local thought, social movements, law, and the role of language and translation, this project examines the emergence and development of political concepts outside the West in the context of cultural encounters during the period of imperialism.

Supervisor: Professor Sho Konishi