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Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien
Publikationen
31. Mai 2021

„You cannot not compare.“ Concluding contribution to Comparing Comparisons blog

Screenshot Comparing Comparisons blog

In their concluding contribution to the Comparing Comparisons blog, DIJ director Franz Waldenberger and James D. Sidaway (Professor of Political Geography, NUS) emphasize the invaluable benefits from comparing as a method in the humanities and social sciences. „You can do it wrong or be seduced by too easy comparisons, but you cannot easily do without some“, they conclude. Their article „Who compares? The commodification and decolonization of comparison“ is the final contribution to the blog which originates from the international and interdisciplinary meeting by scholars affiliated with the Max Weber Foundation Research Group at the National University of Singapore and DIJ researchers in Tokyo in December 2019. Previous contributions offer variations of the blog’s theme and draw examples from the authors‘ respective areas of specialization, including anthropology, ethnography, Japanese studies, political geography, economics, cross-cultural studies, business and management research.