生産研では専門分野名を「地域安全システム学」と称してきた．都市計画，まちづくり技術を基盤としつつ，自然災害リスクに対してより安全な都市・地域のあり方を総合的に考え，実践する分野である．古典的には「都市防災」と称される分野であったが，時代の変化に対応し，根本から再構築し，新しい地平を拓くことを意図している．本セミナーでは，これまでの研究範囲を概観することを通して，社研において文理融合の新たな研究活動のきっかけを創りたい．

　Narratives play a key role in both academic and popular discourse, particularly in politics, and there is great value in comparing the two. This research arose from a long delay in publishing the manuscript as it became clear that the changing nature and sites of political narratives in Japan was more interesting than the narratives themselves. The research encompasses not only academic theories and trends, but also journalism, political novels and the internet as well as the narratives that Japanese politicians themselves attempt to promote.
　This talk is linked to the University of Tokyo International Publishing Initiative (UT-IPI) because it raises many important issues for would-be authors of books written in English for the English reading academic audience and, of course, English language academic publishers. In this end, we are forced to consider how we produce, engage with and use knowledge of politics by focusing on narratives of Japanese politics over the past 30 years.