M2 Kakeru KIKUCHI
The 17th Research Conference of the Japan Association of Global Governance, held on May 11 and 12, 2024, at the Ibaraki Campus of Ritsumeikan University, marked a significant milestone in my academic journey. Alongside my seminar members, Reona Fukuhara and Miyu Nishimura, I presented a poster at the conference. This was not just another research conference for me, but a platform where I took my first step into the world of academic presentations. The experience was a testament to the challenges and joys of research, leaving me with a profound sense of accomplishment.
We researched and created a poster titled "Consideration of the African Union's Role as a Norm Entrepreneur-Through a Case Study on Efforts of Transitional Justice in Ethiopia." Even though the African Union (AU) is a regional organization with 55 African countries and regions as its members, it has yet to address Africa's problems proactively due to various restrictions. However, in Ethiopia, which has experienced conflict in recent years, transitional justice (efforts to bring peace to post-conflict societies) has seen the AU become increasingly involved, unlike in the past. Thus, the study aimed to explore new possibilities for the AU by showing that it functions as an entrepreneur to generate new norms for transitional justice.
Poster and participating members
Since our senior students had presented at the Japan Association of Global Governance in the past and we had heard that the theoretical framework in research was necessary, we decided to address normative entrepreneurs as the analytical framework for our study. 'Norms' is a complicated concept for me, and I remember needing help reading and understanding previous studies. In our research, we also used Ethiopia as a case study of how the AU has intervened in the country. This process also troubled us because we had to analyze each event as a line rather than a point. During the research, many things did not go well, and the days seemed long, but looking back, I have the impression that the day of the presentation arrived in the blink of an eye.
On the day of the presentation, I was left feeling a little regretful about what I could have done more, but I was able to enjoy the presentation. The professors, who have expertise in similar fields, asked many insightful questions that were difficult to answer, but I was able to learn a lot from them. On the other hand, some did not know much about AU. I carefully explained the background of the issue to them and was pleased when they became interested in it. Listening to other students' presentations was also very stimulating for me. I enjoyed the space where each student was enthusiastic about his or her field of interest and discussed it with each other. I am grateful to Professor Fujii for his guidance and to all the seminar members for their advice and frank questions during my research. I would like to thank them.
Finally, although this is an entirely different story from my research since the Research Conference was held in Osaka, I went to Kyoto on my way home. I visited the Kyoto Botanical Garden, which I have wanted to visit for a long time. I have loved aquariums since childhood, but I have recently been interested in botanical gardens, and the vivid greenery and colorful flowers have healed me. The Kyoto Botanical Garden has a large viewing greenhouse, and some websites rank it first in Japan's most famous botanical gardens. Only a few people living in the Kanto region choose to visit the botanical garden when they go to the Kansai region, yet I enjoyed it very much!
Kyoto Botanical Garden's viewing greenhouse
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