Metabolic Sociology
and Shutai
My Journey
Summary
A short explanation of the Japanese concept 'shutai' and metabolic sociology
Research
Ongoing historical research on the shutai of overcoming modernity (under construction)
Publications
List of published articles and translations
Yuka Hasegawa
I am a sociocultural anthropologist and a Japanese-English translator/interpreter. I moved away from teaching Japanese popular culture because I saw how it commodified education. Learning about the history of Pedagogical Anthropology inspired me to pursue a more sustainable path—one that fosters lifelong learning and the fulfillment of human potential.
Education and Research
as a Cultural Service
Humans thrive in environments where they are free to explore the depth of being and becoming within safe, supportive, and diverse communities. I believe education and research should recognize themselves as benefits of ecological systems that create this environment while making themselves beneficial to improving human well-being and nurturing human becoming.
*Cultural services are a category of ecosystem services along with provisioning, regulating, and supporting services that ecosystems provide for human well-being. Cultural services are nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences. Services include, but are not limited to, cultural diversity, spiritual and religious values, knowledge systems, educational values, inspiration, aesthetic values, social relations, sense of place, cultural heritage values, recreation and ecotourism (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005).