Towards automated restructuring of object oriented systems

The work introduces a method for diagnosing design flaws in object oriented systems, and finding meaningful refactorings to remove such flaws. The method is based on pairing up a structural pattern that is considered pathological (e.g. a code smell or anti-pattern) with a so called design context. The design context describes the design semantics associated to the pathological structure, and the desired strategic closure for that fragment. The process is tool supported and largely automated

When East Meets West: International Change and Its Effects on Domestic Cultural Institutions

Domestic governments increasingly face the pressure to follow policy developments occurring at the international or supranational level. Yet international laws and policies need to be “translated” to suit domestic political institutions and newly adopted policies may challenge or contradict preexisting domestic policies, institutions, and interests. To explore the domestic impact of international institutional developments, we studied the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage and its adoption in four countries (Japan, China, France, and Germany). Using historical institutionalism, this comparative case study sheds light on the effects of the Convention on cultural governance systems in two supposedly different “camps” within the UNESCO: the East and the West. The study argues that it is the interaction and entangled relationship of exogenous and endogenous factors over time, particularly the timing and sequence in which they constrain and facilitate change, which shape actors’ preferences and institutional development at both levels

Les gouverneurs locaux dans le Japon d’après-1945 : une approche socio-historique

Le gouverneur japonais (chiji) est l’exécutif en chef du département, la plus grande division administrative au Japon. Conçue pendant l'ère Meiji comme l'un des principaux outils du contrôle central sur le Japon local, cette fonction a été radicalement modifiée après l'introduction de l'élection au suffrage universel direct comme nouveau mode de désignation par les forces d’Occupation dans la période de l'après-guerre. A la connexion entre le niveau national et local, et légitimé par le suffrage populaire, le gouverneur est doté de larges pouvoirs dans le système de gouvernement local japonais. Ces conditions ont permis de renforcer le leadership politique d’un gouverneur muni d'une forte autorité sur le département, tout en étant en contact direct avec le gouvernement central, en tant qu’exécutif en chef de la plus haute division locale du Japon. De nombreuses caractéristiques de la fonction (le succès électoral des bureaucrates et la relation particulière avec les partis politiques notamment) sont toutefois les résultats d’un phénomène de « dépendance au sentier » (path-dependence), peu à peu remodelées sous l’effet des frictions produites par les réformes décentralisatrices de la période de l'Occupation dans un cadre encore largement centralisateur.Sur la base de travaux de recherche à la fois quantitatifs et qualitatifs, cette étude analyse la transformation de la fonction de gouverneur au cours de l'après-guerre d'une position bureaucratique à une charge politique, ses évolutions et les conséquences de celles-ci sur la politique japonaise au niveau local et national.The Japanese governor (chiji) is the executive head of the prefecture, the largest administrative division in Japan. Conceived during the Meiji as one of the main tools of the central control on local Japan, this position was been radically modified after the introduction of direct election by the Allied Occupation authority in the post-war period. At the connection between the national and local level, and legitimized by public election, the governor is endowed with substantial powers in the Japanese local government system. These conditions have strengthened the capacity of local leadership of the governor provided with a strong authority over the prefecture. Numerous characteristics of the position, the success of bureaucrats and the particular relation with political parties notably, are however path-dependent elements, gradually reshaped by the frictions produced by the reforms of the Occupation period. Based on both quantitative and qualitative research works, this study analyses the transformation of the post-war governorship from a bureaucratic position to a political office, its evolution and its consequences on Japanese politics at both local and national level

Prefectural Governors and Populism in Japan (1990s-2010s)

Populism has become a recurring issue in Japanese politics, particularly at the local level. In a time of general discontent with traditional politics and politicians, the prefectural governor, chief executive of the larger local government body and elected by popular suffrage, occupies a political office which seems to offer large opportunities for populist behaviors. In the past two decades, various governors have been labeled with the term ‘populist’ for political styles built on appeals to the people and the use of mass media. However, the diversity and continuous increase in the number of such situations may, , albeit sometimes in an extreme, deformed way, indicate the emergence of a new kind of democracy in Japan

Seminar #11 - February 10 (Friday), 2023: A. Klein "Religion and Politics in Contemporary Japan"

(French version below) We are happy to announce the next session of our seminar! Axel Klein (University of Duisburg-Essen) will be giving a talk titled: “Religion and Politics in Contemporary Japan” Date, Time: February 10th (Friday), 10:00-12:00 (CEST, UTC/GMT +1:00) / 18:00-20:00 (JST). The seminar poster (PDF file): GEPJ Seminar (Klein) You are all cordially invited to this event. The seminar will take place online via Zoom. Registration Form : https://forms.gle/piLfMDHLj8HvY5f9A We look..

Video Recording – Seminar #5 (2022/03/31): H. Jentzsch “Harvesting State Support: Japan’s Agriculture in Transition”

You can finally watch the video recording of our March seminar! Hanno Jentzsch (University of Vienna), “Harvesting State Support: Japan’s Agriculture in Transition” https://archive.org/details/gepj-seminar-harvesting-state-support-hanno-jentzsch Many thanks to Hanno Jentzsch and all participants for this wonderful session! Hanno's book : https://utorontopress.com/9781487508548/harvesting-state-support

Nicolas Baumert, Sylvie Guichard-Anguis (dir.), « Désastres et alimentation : le défi japonais », Géographie et cultures, n° 86, 2013

Le 11 mars 2011, le Japon était victime d’une triple catastrophe, un violent tremblement de terre, un puissant tsunami et un accident nucléaire majeur, entrainant la mort de près de 20 000 personnes et dévastant une large partie du nord-est du pays. Outre les destructions matérielles et les souffrances humaines survenues ce jour-là, cette catastrophe a aussi créé, à travers la contamination radioactive, une situation particulièrement sensible au regard des questions alimentaires. Que ce soit ..

Protecting the Weak? Tracing UNESCO’s Influence on Intangible Cultural Heritage Regimes in Japan and China

The chapter examines whether the UNESCO has provided Japanese and Chinese state and society with new opportunities to use the notion of “intangible cultural heritage” (ICH) to mobilise domestically for the protection of traditional culture. Through a qualitative analysis of government documents, newspaper articles and interviews, Maags and Trifu comparatively retrace the dynamics of the framing, mobilisation and institutionalisation processes behind the protection of one “classical”, one minority-related, and one culinary ICH practice in Japan and China. They find that although the UNESCO ICH convention has provided state and non-state actors the opportunity to reframe existing notions of traditional culture for the sake of mobilising support and institutionalising ICH safeguarding, it has failed to alter the conception which prevails in both countries that the protection of intangible heritage is an elite pursuit. The ICH concept is appropriated to serve the interests of certain socio-political actors and previously existing institutional frameworks. As these elites foster the safeguarding of “outstanding” examples of national culture for domestic and international display, the chapter asks to what extent the UNESCO Convention is in fact protecting “weak” culture in these countries