Workshop“Phenomenology and Dignity: Considering Experience and Discrimination”
1. Organizing:
Group B03
Joint Sponsorship: Action Research Center for Human and Community Development, Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University
2. Date:
February 15th, 2025
3. Venue:
F151, 1st floor, Ward F, Tsurukabuto 2nd Campus, Kobe University
4. Format:
Face to face only (Language: Japanese only)
5. Program:
- 13:30～13:40
- Opening remarks, Chair: Mie Inamura (Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University)
- 13:40〜14:20
- Yoko Arisaka (The Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture)
“The Paradox of Individual Dignity and Disability in Democracy” - 14:20～15:00
- Shojiro Kotegawa (Faculty of Letters, Kokugakuin University)
“Everyday Racism and Human Dignity: A Phenomenological Perspective” - 15:00～15:20
- Break
- 15:20～16:00
- Mie Inamura (Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University)
“Intersectionality between Disability and Gender, and the Dignity of Women with Disabilities: A Feminist Phenomenological Perspective (tentative)” - 16:00～16:15
- Final remarks by Reiko Goto (Faculty of Economics, Teikyo University)
- 16:15～17:00
- Plenary Session (Q&A)
6. Number of participants:
21 people
7. Overview and review:
Behind discrimination and polarization, there are stereotypes that assume that all members of a certain group have a fixed personality or disposition. These stereotypes can lead to feelings such as admiration, dislike, or contempt, and the attitudes that accompany them are prejudices. In recent years, laws have been enacted with the aim of eliminating discrimination, but discrimination and polarization are becoming more serious. By holding fixed ideas and prejudices based on differences such as gender, race, or whether or not a person has a disability, we are more likely to make arbitrary judgements about a person’s character or nature, and to damage their dignity. In this workshop, we focused on the ‘dignity’ of the people concerned, explored the question of what it is like to be discriminated against, what kinds of cases constitute discrimination and took a phenomenological approach to the issue of discrimination. The three speakers, who are experts in phenomenology, considered day-to-day discrimination and prejudice against disability, gender and race, and considered not only the perspectives of those directly affected, but also the perspectives of those who discriminate unconsciously and those who stand by and watch.
First, Dr Yoko Arisaka (Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, University of Hildesheim) gave a talk entitled “The Paradox of Individual Dignity and Disability in Democracy”. Starting from a consideration of the ‘equality’ that comes from democracy, Arisaka pointed out that the dignity of the ‘individual’ based on ‘human reason’ that has been seen as abstract and universal is centered on the majority (able-bodied people), and while the minority (people with disabilities) are legally recognized as ‘individuals’, there are many inequalities that do not appear in legal equality in the content of their individual experiences. She thought that it was necessary to question the ‘individual’ as a rational majority, and that phenomenology could be useful for this purpose. She says that there is no such thing as ‘disability’, and that the word ‘disability’ is an expression from the side of the able-bodied that collectively suggests many phenomena of difficulties in living. The term ‘disabled person’ should not be imposed on the person concerned by the able-bodied, but the person concerned should decide for themselves whether to have that identity. We can divide disabilities into physical disabilities (visible disabilities) and developmental disabilities, such as Asperger’s syndrome and hearing disabilities (invisible disabilities), but it is easy for people with visible disabilities to become the subject of their own experiences, while people with invisible disabilities tend to be having ‘characteristics’. However, Arisaka believes that both types of disability are ‘totalized’, and suggested that people with disabilities tend to have their other characteristics and abilities overlooked. When people talk about their experiences of discrimination or difficulties in life from the perspective of each of the following groups – people with disabilities, people who have experienced discrimination, people involved in the issue, and third parties – Arisaka believes that when a third party talks about a disability, the experience is generalized, and there is a risk that the ‘hijacking of the experience’ problem will occur. In the second half of her talk, she talked about the paradox of the dignity of individuals with disabilities, and explained that such generalized characteristics have been attributed to the personality of the individual, rather than cultural or group characteristics. Arisaka called for a recognition of the need for dignity that goes beyond equality in a democracy and questioned how situations and societies that are based on equality are constructed on the assumption of a majority (able-bodied people), and emphasized the need to firmly recognize that this is not just an issue for individuals, but also for society as a whole.
Secondly, Dr Shojiro Kotegawa (Faculty of Letters, Kokugakuin University) gave a lecture entitled “Everyday Racism and Human Dignity: A Phenomenological Perspective”, in which he considered the necessity of the concept of dignity and the possibilities for interpretation from a phenomenological perspective, using examples of everyday racism as a starting point. First, Kotegawa discussed the possibility of a paradox in the relationship between racism and dignity, and pointed out that it would be difficult to resolve this by simply distinguishing between ‘human dignity’ and ‘individual dignity’. Next, he considered that, based on the interpretation of the concept of dignity by political philosopher Jeremy Waldron, the inability to feel secure (i.e. not having to face discrimination or exclusion by others) due to hate speech constitutes a violation of dignity. In other words, people belonging to groups that are the targets of discrimination end up living without security and are deprived of freedom in all aspects. In the second half of his talk, Kotegawa developed a phenomenological analysis of ‘dignity violation’ in everyday racism, which is distinct from hate speech. He analyzed the everyday racism experienced by Helen Ngo, an Australian philosopher of Chinese-Vietnamese descent, using the example of a market visit to Paris, France. Kotegawa considered what is damaged by the chain of actions and words of many people who do not mean to be malicious, such as hate crimes and hate speech, and answered the question by saying that it is ‘self-esteem’ that allows the discriminated to be themselves.
After a short break, Dr Minae Inahara (Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University) gave a talk entitled “The Intersectionality of Disability and Gender and the Dignity of Women with Disabilities: A Feminist Phenomenological Perspective”, in which she considered the experience of suffering multiple discrimination due to both having a disability and being a woman. She began by introducing Article 6 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which is entitled ‘Girls with Disabilities’. Referring to the works of sociologists such as You Tsuchiya, she analyzed the experience of multiple discrimination, and clarified that, up until now, the issues of women with disabilities have been overlooked in policies and feminist movements for women, and the issues of women have been overlooked in policies and movements for people with disabilities. The overlap between discrimination against people with disabilities and discrimination against women makes the ‘difficulty of living’ for women with disabilities even more serious. Inahara said that discrimination against women tends to be seen as ‘not serious’ and is often neglected, as it occurs in the private sphere (in the home or in secret). Inahara then went on to discuss the relationship between dignity and discrimination, first addressing the connection between dignity and human rights, and referring to the fact that dignity is necessary to protect human rights, and that those who discriminate are unable to respect the lives and personalities of the individuals who are discriminated against or belong to discriminated-against groups, and are unable to adopt an attitude that recognizes their value. In the second half of the lecture, she explained feminist phenomenology influenced by Merleau-Ponty, and using her own experiences, she examined why this approach is necessary when considering the multiple discrimination and intersectionality of women with disabilities.
After the three speakers had finished their talks, Dr Reiko Gotoh (Faculty of Economics, Teikyo University), the research representative of Group B03, made constructive comments and posed questions to the speakers from the perspectives of economic philosophy and the capabilities approach. The discussion progressed by presenting two main areas of interest: (1) a content-based interest in the concept of dignity (what can be explained by the concept of dignity, and what should be explained by it?); and (2) a methodological interest in the sciences and academic disciplines related to dignity research. In particular, reference was made to the risk that individuals (their personalities) may be generalized, gendered or racialized on the basis of specific disabilities, group characteristics or cultural characteristics, and the question was asked of what phenomenology can do from the perspective of welfare policy. Gotoh then referred to the case of A-bomb survivors, and mentioned the need to focus on the most disadvantaged people (for example, individuals with intersexuality) while also recognizing the differences between individuals within a group when providing appropriate social support. Gotoh said that within a certain group, there is the possibility of individuals comparing their experiences of hardship with each other (in other words, exchanging imaginary positions). In the process of creating relief and support measures, it is necessary to compare experiences between the people involved. The new way of thinking about individuals, as shown in the diagram of ‘individuals as resistance to racialization and group formation’ presented by Gotoh, may be the starting point for creating solidarity between minority groups and creating new relief and support measures. By continuing to explore the two approaches of phenomenology and capability, it may be possible to provide a new methodology for establishing a study of dignity. After that, the dialogue and discussion between the speakers was emphasized, and the participants on the floor were also able to exchange their opinions with each other.
(Text by Minae Inahara)