A paper by Professor Ryusaku Yamada of the Faculty of International Liberal Arts has been published in a collection of papers published by Oxford University Press.

Professor Ryusaku Yamada of the School of International Liberal Arts, titled "Global Citizens as Democratic Citizens: Daisaku Ikeda on the Overcoming of Mass Society and the Religious Foundations of Democratic Ethos," published online by Oxford University Press as Chapter 8 of the collection "The Oxford Handbook of Global Citizenship Education."

This paper examines, focusing on the SGI proposals, that the founder, Professor Daisaku Ikeda, advocated the concept of "global citizens" is also "democratic citizens." Considering that the founders discussed "global citizenship" alongside the "flow of democracy" from the early SGI proposals, the paper focuses on "overcoming the masses," often discussed as an inherent issue of democracy since the dialogue with historian Dr. Toynbee, thereby reexamining the classical framework of "from the masses to the citizens." It analyzes the founders' philosophy that emphasizes self-reflection, dialogue, tolerance, and autonomy, as well as internal growth within humans, and argues how the cultivation of such spiritual foundations (ethos) emphasizes "religiosity" in opening the heart to others, rather than the self-righteous "sectarianism." This paper demonstrates that the founders' ideas offer a new perspective on democracy and civic education in the modern era.

For this publication, Professor Yamada said, "I examined Professor Ikeda's concept of 'global citizenship' from the perspective of 'citizenship' that supports democracy and 'mass society' that undermines it. Although the fascist-era 'Mass Society Theory,' which discussed the issue of 'mass society,' has tended to be forgotten in recent years, by rereading SGI's recommendations up to his lecture at Columbia University Teachers College and overseas lectures, I concluded that human transformation from 'the masses to citizens' remains an unfinished challenge even today. The sustainability of democracy requires not only institutions but also the inner growth of the people and the cultivation of democratic ethos that underpin it. In today's world, where populism and new authoritarianism and other 'crises of democracy' are widely discussed worldwide, I believe such perspectives deserve greater emphasis. I hope this research can contribute to the further development of global citizenship education and international discussions on democracy."

Faculty Information

Professor

Ryusaku Yamada

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Specialized Field

Political theory (modern democratic theory), history of political thought

Research theme

Radical Democracy (Participation, Deliberation, Citizenship), Karl Mannheim's Political and Social Thought