Masachi Osawa

Masachi Osawa (大澤 真幸, Ōsawa Masachi, born October 15, 1958 in Nagano, Japan) is a Japanese sociologist and philosopher. Outside Japan, he is best known as a social scientist, often mentioned in reference to sociological and philosophical research on otaku culture and popular Japanese animation series such as Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.[1]

Masachi Osawa
Born(1958-10-15)October 15, 1958
Nagano, Japan
OccupationSociologist
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Tokyo
ThesisThe Algebra of Actions
Academic work
DisciplineSociology
Sub-disciplineOtaku culture, popular culture
Notable ideasBody theory

Background

Osawa received his Ph.D in Sociology from the University of Tokyo in 1990. His Ph.D thesis is The Algebra of Actions (行為の代数学, Koi no Daisugaku). His supervisor was Munesuke Mita. He is one of the most influential sociologists in Japan and a prolific author.[2] He has taught at Chiba University and Kyoto University.

Works

Osawa is known for proposing a form of body theory that is concerned with how our life-world is constructed, particularly the process that yields norm and meaning.[3][4] He assumes that the coordination between more than two bodies, which includes physical objects, sustains all human activities.[5] Such coordination, which Osawa called as "inter-bodily chain" is the basis of our experiences.[5] In his view, the interaction of the bodies produces the transcendental agency that defines what is valid and invalid or appropriate and inappropriate.[6]

The sociologist also labeled the period starting from 1995 onwards as the Age of Impossibility in contrast the Age of Virtuality (1970-1995).[7] The former described a decline of totality in contemporary society[8] while the latter, which was equated with virtuality, was an era when reality was relativized.[7]

Osawa has contributed to the most influential Japanese postmodern journal Critical Space (批評区間, Hihyōkūkan), edited by Kojin Karatani and Akira Asada. He has also written essays for the Japanese arts and technology journal called InterCommunication.[9]

See also

References
  1. https://confluence.cornell.edu/display/asian3318/Osawa+Masachi
  2. http://osawa-masachi.com/?page_id=250
  3. Sugiman, Toshio; Gergen, Kenneth J.; Wagner, Wolfgang; Yamada, Yoko (2008). Meaning in Action: Constructions, Narratives, and Representations. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 136. ISBN 978-4-431-74680-5.
  4. Osawa, Masachi (1990). "The Social Dimension of Meaning". Sociological Theory and Methods. 5: 23–42 – via J-STAGE.
  5. Wagoner, Brady (2009). Symbolic Transformation: The Mind in Movement Through Culture and Society. East Sussex: Psychology Press. p. 150. ISBN 9780415488488.
  6. Elliott, Anthony; Katagiri, Masataka; Sawai, Atsushi (2014). Routledge Companion to Contemporary Japanese Social Theory: From Individualization to Globalization in Japan Today. Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-58051-5.
  7. Jensen, Tim; Geertz, Armin (2015). NVMEN, the Academic Study of Religion, and the IAHR: Past, Present and Prospects. Leiden: BRILL. p. 408. ISBN 978-90-04-30846-6.
  8. Azuma, Hiroki (2014). General Will 2.0: Rousseau, Freud, Google. Kodansha USA. ISBN 978-1-941220-54-2.
  9. Steinberg, Marc; Zahlten, Alexander (2017). Media Theory in Japan. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-7329-2.


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