You are cordially invited to a roundtable on

Thursday, 28 November 2019, 15:00 - 18:00 h
The Future of Society - German and Japanese Perspectives

Institutions are the foundations of our society. They help to coordinate individual actions and they are needed to integrate various social, economic and political subsystems. Institutions can, however, not be fully understood by their functional role alone. Any understanding and analysis of institutions has to also consider their normative qualities. In the face of current challenges like the digital transformation, climate change and new geopolitical power relations, the normative foundations of our social institutions are being challenged with far reaching consequences for social cohesion and development.

Professor Udo Di Fabio, former judge of the German Federal Constitutional Court, has recently published two books on the foundations of modern society, combining historical, legal and sociological perspectives. He will present his main arguments in a keynote address. His ideas will by commented on by Japanese and German scholars before the general discussion is opened to the floor.

15:00 Welcome, Franz Waldenberger (German Institute for Japanese Studies, DIJ)
15:15 Keynote "How does Modern Society Work?", Udo Di Fabio (University of Bonn)
15:45 Comments by
Kaori Hayashi (The University of Tokyo)
Hiroko Kudo (Chuo University)
Frank Rövekamp (OAI Ludwigshafen University and Sophia University)
Franz Waldenberger (German Institute for Japanese Studies, DIJ)

16:30 Coffee Break
17:00 Open discussion
18:00 Networking Reception

The roundtable will be in English. Admission is free, registration is required at https://dij.tokyo/ or forum@dijtokyo.org
Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien - German Institute for Japanese Studies
Jochi Kioizaka Bld. 2F, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0094
Tel: 03 - 3222 5198 www.dijtokyo.org