Konferenz
International Conference: Global History and the Meiji Restoration
The Global History and the Meiji Restoration conference is part of a tri-continental multi-year research effort with conferences planned in Germany, the United States and Japan revolving around the Meiji Restoration. The aim is to look at Japanese history during the nineteenth century in a broader global context to explore two larger questions (1) Why is it that almost around the same time in the world comparable nation-state unification processes were at work and what is the role of this larger world in the Meiji Restoration not only as a political event but as a trigger to broader social and cultural transformations and (2) the Meiji Restoration may have been a key turning point in political history but it is still open to debate how disruptive or transformative the Edo-Meiji transition really was? To what extent did Japan experience a more continuous "long nineteenth century" as has been claimed for other countries? Last but not least, we want to know whether reconsidering the Japanese experience may also contributed to a new understanding of the historiographical enterprise of global history, which has developed in recent years, but despite all Western efforts to reach beyond the traditional remit still takes Europe as its core concern and pillar of reference.