The Japan Fieldwork Workshop invites you to:

Greener Pastures: Social and Economic Outcomes of Sub-Saharan Africans living in Japan

Tristan Ivory
PhD Candidate in Sociology
Stanford University (Visiting Researcher, SHAKEN)

Sophia University, Yotsuya Campus
Bldg. 10, room 301
Thursday, May 15th
6:30-8pm.
Access: http://www.fla.sophia.ac.jp/about/location

Lecture in English (Japanese discussion welcome) Free and open to all; no registration necessary

(We usually go out for a beer around the corner after presentations--and again, all are welcome.)

Abstract:
My dissertation project is an assessment of the social and economic conditions of Sub-Saharan Africans living in Japan. I examine the resources and strategies that matter most for migrants seeking to maximize their outcomes in a society that is relatively closed to non-members. In other words: How do migrants make their way in a society that provides relatively few opportunities for non-citizens and how does the host society respond to their presence (if at all)?

I use a variety of research methods including semi-structured interviews, participant observation, ethnography, archival research, and geospatial mapping (cataloguing residential and labor market areas using computer-enhanced mapping technology) towards this end.
For the purposes of this study, I explore identity formation/maintenance, educational/technical credentialing and training, access to and type of social networks, attitudes towards Japanese society, and labor market position among Sub-Saharan African migrants.

The issues of greatest interest arising from the research are: the nature of outsider status in Japan, strategies for attaining social and human capital after migration, religious institutions and their importance for building and nurturing social networks, the importance of gender within contemporary migration, priorities in romantic partner selection, and negotiating cultural differences in maintaining the family structure. One of the most important findings is that marriage to a Japanese national is the primary mode for regularizing most migrants' legal status as well as a major conduit for access to social capital and social networks.

--
David H. Slater, Ph.D.
Faculty of Liberal Arts
Sophia University, Tokyo