Davis, John
(Ph.D. Stanford University, 2002)
Assistant Professor
davisjrj@msu.edu

JOHN DAVIS, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, recently completed his dissertation entitled "Challenging the State, Embracing the Nation: The Cultural Politics of Human Rights in Japanese Society," which examines a grassroots human rights movement in Western Japan centering around the Buraku issue. Dr. Davis' research examines how human rights discourse is invoked to challenge "traditional" social practices and also how "tradition" is mobilized in certain politicized contexts to reconfigure human rights discourse.

His teaching and research interests include human rights, Japanese society and culture, legal anthropology, social stratification, psychological anthropology, social movements, cultural nationalism, peace and justice studies, and dynamic analyses of race, class and gender

A few recent publications include:

• Davis, John. H. "Blurring the Boundaries of the Buraku(min)," in J. S. Eades, Tom Gill and Harumi Befu (eds). Globalization and Social Change in Contemporary Japan. Melbourne: Trans Pacific Press, 2000.
• Davis, John H. "Amerika Gasshukoku ni okeru fubyodo no kozo (The Structure of Inequality in the United States)." Coperu. No. 78. Kyoto, Japan: Aun-sha, 1999.
• Davis, John H. and Anne Bouchy. "The Chisel of the Ama and the Bow of the Feudal Lord: The Double Structure of Labor and Village Organization in Ama Society," in Haruko Wakita, Anne Bouchy and Chizuko Ueno (eds). Gender and Japanese History. Osaka, Japan: Osaka University Press, 1999. (Translated Japanese original into English.)
• Davis, John H. "Jinken Mondai no Shinkutanku to Shite (The Need for a Human Rights Think Tank)," in Buraku Kaiho Jinken Kenkyusho (ed). Challenge for Tomorrow. Osaka, Japan: Kaiho Shuppansha, 1998.