1. CONTENTS
Spring 2016 Number 28
NOTE FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
A
s we enter 2016, the Pacific Basin Research Center is pre-
paring for a variety of new projects and events. We have
several new books in print as part of our series with Pal-
grave Macmillan, Politics, Economics, and Inclusive De-
velopment. This Spring, we look forward to hosting the second
meeting from our taskforce on corporate-NGO environmental part-
nerships, leading towards the publication of the taskforce’s working
paper, penned by Garry Brewer (Yale) and Jorge Rivera (George
Washington University). We are also excited to release the call for
applications for next year’s John D. Montgomery Post-Doctoral Fel-
low, which will focus on peace studies in the Pacific Bain, a core
concern for Soka University of America and the PBRC.
On campus , we are excited to announce the expansion of our stu-
dent summer grant program. For many years, the PBRC has sup-
ported SUA students to undertake internships, attend conferences,
conduct research, or take part in other exciting activities. Given the
many opportunities for SUA students throughout the Pacific Basin
and beyond, the 2016 grant will provide further funding and men-
torship, allowing our students to get the most out of their summers
and seek to contribute towards global change.
By Dr. Shane Barter
PBRC
Update
SOKA UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, ALISO VIEJO
www.pbrc.soka.edu
Envir Partnership
Taskforce Conference
Pg. 10
PBRC Jr. Scholars
Pg. 6
Spring 16 Speaker
Dr. Richard Fox
Pg. 14

2. PBRC STAFF AND ADVISORY COMMITTEES
Staff
William L. Ascher
Director
Shane Barter
Associate Director
Kayo Yoshikawa
Program Coordinator
Advisory Committee
Garry Brewer, Yale
Shabbir Cheema, East-West Center
Edward Feasel, SUA
Ian Read, SUA
Michael Lofchie, UCLA
Page 2
These are just some of the upcoming programs for 2016—these and other initiatives are dis-
cussed in the Spring edition of the PBRC Update!

3. PBRC Update
NEW PUBLICATION
Page 3
For more information on PBRC publications, visit:
http://www.pbrc.soka.edu/publications/default.aspx
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES AND IN-
TER-GROUP VIOLENCE
Insights on Conflict-Sensitive Development
Drawing on economic, political, and psychological theory, policy
experiences, and case studies of the three regional volumes in
the series (Economic Development Strategies and the Evolution of
Violence in Latin America; Development Strategies, Identities,
and Conflict in Asia; and The Economic Roots of Conflict and Co-
operation in Africa), this book assesses the risks and opportuni-
ties of development strategies regarding the likelihood of inter-
group violence. Policymakers and development practitioners will
greatly benefit from this detailed and comprehensive analysis of
how development initiatives may affect group identities, influence
multiple disparities among groups, create "conflict-opportunity
structures," and change the dynamics of state-society relations.
FORTHCOMING TITLES
 The Politics of Inclusive Development by Judith A. Teichman
 The Evolution of Development Thinking by William Ascher,
Garry D. Brewer, G. Shabbir Cheema, and John M. Heffron

4. PBRC Update
Fall 2015 Speaker Event Report I
Page 4
By Jaroslav Zapletal, PBRC Research Assistant
D
uring the fall semester, Dr. José Luis León-Manríquez delighted Soka
University of America with his visit. A Professor of International & East
Asian Studies at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana in Mexico City,
Dr. León-Manríquez addressed the somewhat heated discussions about the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). He offered a Mexican perspective toward the
controversial agreement, one distinct from that of the United States.
The TPP is a unique deal that, due to its economic magnitude and geo-
graphical breadth, demands discussion. The deal will deepen linkages across the Pacific Basin
through a new trade and investment framework. However, it excludes China, Brazil, and Argentina.
Thus, it could help create a more coherent regional economic system, or could deepen divisions
between liberal and closed economies. The deal remains highly controversial (as some of its parts
are still kept in secrecy) and receives mixed feedback from academics, politician, and business pro-
fessionals
Dr. León-Manríquez, a former foreign intelligence officer, offered a distinct perspective. He
suggested that if Mexico signed under the pre-set conditions (as Mexico did), the TPP would essen-
tially end up being yet another free trade agreement (FTA) of rather little significance to the country
Nearly 90% of Mexican exports go to the U.S., yet many goods are assembled in Mexico us-
ing parts imported from Asia. Mexico has an FTA with Japan (mostly importing automobile parts),
Malaysia, and Taiwan, but not with China. Although Mexican trade with China has been rising, Dr.
León-Manríquez demonstrated that the value is exaggerated. Because the TPP would not be nota-
México, Asia and the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Dr. José Luis León-Manríquez

5. Page 5
bly useful for Mexico on its way to more unfettered international trade, Dr. León-Manríquez ar-
gued the country should promote trade with China and Asia holistically, as it is the groundwork
for Mexican international trade in general and could yield solid economic growth for the country.
“Unfortunately, corporations decide,” Dr. León-Manríquez noted, emphasizing that Mexico re-
mains to be a decision-taker. Additionally, as mentioned earlier, the bureaucratic machine does
not help either.
Dr. León-Manríquez offered another interesting point – if the Mexican government does
not undertake transform its approach toward the deal, the reality compared to the expectations
for the deal might as well fall short of the mark. Generally, the Mexican press extols the TPP
and voices the government’s belief that it will boost foreign trade and economic growth. Unless
investment in Asia (and Asia-Pacific) is prioritized, especially in China, Mexico will not experi-
ence much economic growth.
SUA students benefit-
ted a great deal from Dr. Le-
ón-Manríquez’s visit. While
critics and supporters of the
TPP provide considerable
hype, the agreement will on-
ly include some Pacific
countries, namely those that
already have free trade
agreements with one anoth-
er. Still, the TPP represents
a step towards greater eco-
nomic integration across the
Pacific Basin, demanding
continued scrutiny on cam-
puses and beyond.

6. Page 6
PBRC STUDENT PROGRAM
Gabrielle Garfunkel ‘16
Gabrielle Garfunkel is a fourth year student at Soka University of
America. She started working at the PBRC in August 2015 and be-
came a PBRC Junior Scholar in October 2015. She is excited to be
able to work with the PBRC to pursue her interest in researching
state and society relationships, especially in the context of religious
states and the treatment of minorities in their jurisdiction.
Kenichi Morita ‘17
Kenichi Morita is a student at Soka University of America who is study-
ing economics, whose interests broadly extends to political science and
sociology. Fascinated by the the roles policies play in supporting low in-
come families and households, Kenichi hopes to apply what he has learned
to better understand the condition of urban poverty within Californian
cities, and one day work to address the deeply-rooted, complex issues sur-
rounding disenfranchised and neglected communities especially within his
local city of Los Angeles.
MEET OUR NEW JUNIOR SCHOLARS!
The PBRC Junior Scholars have interests mirroring those of the PBRC—
humanistic development in the Pacific Basin. The program reflects the PBRC’s
goal of deepening its ties to Soka students, whose energies and ideas can shape
the direction of the Center.
PBRC Update

7. PBRC STUDENT PROGRAM Cont’d
Page 7
Jianmin “Jimmy” Shao ‘17
Jianmin’s research interests are based on the feminist theory of in-
tersectionality and the psychological theory of minority stress. He is
interested in examining how the Western discourses of gender, class,
sexuality, and minority stress intersect with cultural-specific values in
East Asian societies (China, Japan, and Korea), and how this intersec-
tion influences and shapes identity development, marginalized and
oppressed experiences, and psychological well-being of people in
Asia Pacific area.
Amanda Boralessa ‘18
Amanda is a member of the class of 2018 and comes from Massachu-
setts. She is concentrating in International Studies with her interests
focused on poverty, social justice and human rights. For Amanda, the
Pacific Basin region is an integral part of her identity, growing up on
one side of the United States, studying on the other here in Califor-
nia, her family originates across the Pacific Ocean in Sri Lanka and she
will be studying in Latin America for study abroad. She is interested in
how history, especially colonial rule, has shaped and continues to
affect peoples of the world. She hopes to someday work in social de-
velopment, foreign relations and human rights.
Christopher Looper ‘18
The topics Christopher is interested in involve implementing the
study of humanities to understand current day issues. He is primarily
interested in how the study of cultural texts, such as fiction and reli-
gious texts unique to certain regions, can be used to understand and
resolve regional conflicts. His geographic focus is primarily within
East Asia, with an interest in various aspects of issues such as civil
rights, implementation of socialism, and imperialism."

8. PBRC STUDENT PROGRAM Cont’d
Page 8
Jaroslav Zapletal ‘18
Jaro was born and raised in the Czech Republic. Growing up in
the era of the country’s transition to a market economy, it was
then when he had the opportunity to observe his parents' en-
trepreneurial efforts in the new economic environment. Conse-
quently, he became interested in the Czech Republic’s, as well
as European, political economy, and it later brought him to the
field of Euro-Asian relations, which he has developed a huge
interest for. His other research interests include economics and
investment (particularly Latin America and its interconnection
with Asia and the United States), philosophy and Chinese lan-
guage and culture.
Yuye Zhou ‘18
Yuye is a second year student. Her interest lies in the field of environ-
mental justice and nature conservancy. Coming from a highly industri-
alized city Chongqing, China and having traveled to different cities
around the world, Yuye has seen a lot of practices towards economic
development that are at the expense of environmental well-being. Her
future goals are to utilize her knowledge to mitigate climate change,
promote sustainable development and build a healthy connection be-
tween human and nature worldwide.
Risa Nakayama ‘18
Born in Okinawa, Japan, the home of the biggest U.S. military base in
the country since after WWII, Risa has grown to have a deep interest
in base-related issues. Living in an island of culture fusion where
many cultures have come together throughout its history, her inter-
est is not limited to international relations but includes compara-
tive cultural studies, such as gender, society, and people. As she stud-
ied the broader history of East Asia at SUA, she has also grown an
interest in possibilities of local/regional development of Japan and
East Asia as a whole, beyond just Okinawa.

9. PBRC STUDENT PROGRAM Cont’d
Page 9
Zaw Lin Htet ‘19
Zaw is a first year student from Yangon, Myanmar. Due
to his upbringing in a multi-ethnic country under a re-
pressive military regime, he has always been enthusias-
tic to learn about developmental sciences. His research
areas are civil-military relations, democratization,
wealth sharing, and state building. Despite the transi-
tion to democracy, the current Myanmar government is
a quasi-civilian one with the military holding power in
law making and security. He aims to explore the role of
the military in regarding itself as a guardian of national
sovereignty through a historical lens and how it can be
brought under civilian control.
Benefits include:
 Key card access to and study space in the PBRC Library
 $300 research budget to augment PBRC book collections
 A profile on the PBRC website
 Involvement in PBRC initiatives
For more information on PBRC Student Programs,
Visit http://www.pbrc.soka.edu

10. PBRC Update
TASKFORCE CONFERENCE
Page 10
We are preparing for the second meeting of the PBRC’s taskforce on corporate-NGO
environmental partnerships, leading towards the publication of the taskforce’s
working paper, penned by Garry Brewer (Yale) and Jorge Rivera (George Washing-
ton University).
The conference is co-sponsored with the Roberts Environmental Center at Claremont McKenna Col-
lege in Claremont.
For registration and conference schedule, please visit: http://roberts-
environmental-center.cmc.edu/task-force-conference/
Environment Corporation-NGO Partnership Task-
force Conference at Claremont McKenna College
February 26-27, 2016

11. Page 11

12. PBRC Update
Fall 2015 Speaker Event Report II
Page 12
History across
Ocean Worlds
A Panel Discussion with Dr. David Igler, Dr.
Kris Alexanderson, and Dr. Marc Matera
T
hursday, October 29th
, the PBRC held its second panel discussion of the year, “History across
Ocean Worlds.” We welcomed Dr. Kris Alexanderson of the University of the Pacific, Dr. Marc
Matera of UC Santa Cruz and Dr. David Igler of UC Irvine while PBRC Associate Director, Dr.
Shane Barter, facilitated discussion. They were joined by SUA’s own Matteo Barbiero (c/o
2017), Angelica ‘Chase’ Habulan (c/o 2016) and myself, Amanda Boralessa (c/o 2018), as student discus-
sants.
Most of the history we learn seems to focus on the action that
takes place on land masses. We discuss which people lived on
which lands, which land was fought over and where significant
events occurred, country by country. However, this leaves out
the history that happened on over 70% of the Earth – the
oceans! With this panel’s theme, Dr. Alexanderson, Dr. Matera
and Dr. Igler worked to dismantle our preconceptions by speak-
ing about three different periods where the movement of peo-
ple, ideas and goods changed history and the world we live in, all
by way of the ocean.
Dr. Igler began with his take on empires, specifically in the lands of the Pacific Ocean during the late
1700s to 1800s. He explained that the common view that explorers worked for imperial objectives and that
‘the conquered’ were either compliant or resistant undermines the complexity of these interactions. In
many cases, the men at the head of these voyages, as well as the indigenous peoples they encountered,
By Amanda Boralesa, PBRC Junior Scholar

13. worked for personal profit. Though the history we read in
books tends to focus on the conquered land, Dr. Igler told the
dramas at sea which ultimately brought about the land claims
we study today. The Pacific itself was not merely won over;
each encounter brought new struggles and the ocean itself
proved a challenge to navigate for even the most experienced.
Dr. Igler emphasized that this part of the story should not go
unnoticed and it strays from the idea of empire that devel-
oped at the close of the nineteenth century. I found his
presentation illuminating since we often hear of the brave explorers that founded a land, but these titles
were bestowed much later and are often combined with glorified accounts that look past the less heroic,
true history.
Dr. Alexanderson followed, moving the discussion to the twentieth century. She discussed her research on
the Dutch Empire’s colonial rule in Southeast Asia. Specifically, she talked about the Netherlands’ fear of In-
donesian Muslims participating in the hajj each year and their potential to inspire discontent about Dutch
rule upon return. Like Dr. Igler, Dr. Alexanderson wished to share history that happened at sea that we do
typically hear about. With traveling Muslims being enough to scare the Dutch into taking actions that wors-
ened foreign relations, sacrificed economic profit and increased social tensions in the colony, it is clear that
this history at sea produced major change. I personally found the power of exposure very interesting since it
and the power of people armed with knowledge threatened something as powerful as the Dutch Empire.
Dr. Matera focused on post-colonial England later in the twentieth century. He talked about the more posi-
tive aftereffects of the slave trade, including its influence on music. Though his presentation brought in
many different periods and populations, he focused on the vivid night scene created by jazz musicians of
African descent in England. Not only was their music based in African roots, it borrowed and exerted its own
influence across the ocean in the United States and the Caribbean. Moreover, he explained how this created
an environment among intellectuals that promoted decolonization and more favorable positions on the is-
sues of the oppressed. As Matteo pointed out, it is important to note that so much of this was occurring in
the capital of the leader of colonization, England. Dr. Matera’s presentation gave me a renewed apprecia-
tion of the power of music bringing about change and bring-
ing very different populations together.
Ultimately, the panel was able to shed light upon a
few cases where the happenings across oceans impacted his-
tory. It is time we move past the narrow impression that eve-
rything important takes place on land and the ocean is a
merely an “in-between” zone. In fact, it connects people in
ways land cannot. The ocean is embedded in the human ex-
perience and will remain a key stage where history unfolds.
These panels always bring about rich discussion and new in-
sight so be sure to look out for the next one!
Page 13

14. Page 14
SPRING 2016 SPEAKER SERIES
How to Have Your Soul and Eat It Too:
Moments of Translational Indeterminacy on the
Indonesian Island of Bali
Lecture by Dr. Richard Fox, Universität Heidelberg
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
4:45 pm - 6:30 pm
Maathai Hall 207
Reflecting on recent ethnographic research on the Indonesian island of Bali, Dr. Fox addresses
the question of whether our increasingly nuanced attention to the complexity of people’s re-
ligious and cultural practices is matched by our theoretical grasp of translation as a form of
critical enquiry with specific reference to Quine’s account of translational indeterminacy. He
argues that Balinese uses of Sanskrit terminology have played on the possibility of what
Quine described in terms of multiple ‘translation manuals’. As a consequence, present day
Balinese have been able to embody
the ideals of a state bureaucratic
Hinduism, while simultaneously cul-
tivating a set of older aims and sensi-
bilities that are at odds with this nor-
malized form of religiosity. He will
also discuss a series of questions ex-
trapolating from the Balinese eth-
nography to wider issues of transla-
tion in the study of religion and cul-
ture in Asia.

15. Page 15
FIELD-BASED EDUCATION
PBRC Announcement
PBRC Student
Summer Grant Program 2016
The PBRC awards summer grants up to $2,000 to SUA students on a competitive basis to
attend conferences, undertake internships, or conduct field research in developing countries.
To apply, please send your resume and a 1-2 page overview of your prospective project
(including rationale, timeframe. Budget, and justification) to Kayo Yoshikawa at kayoshika-
wa@soka.edu. Please visit the PBRC website (www.pbrc.soka.edu, under
Campus Programs) for suggestions and an overview of the program in-
cluding a list of projects from previous years.
Early Deadline: Monday, March 21st, 2016
Late Deadline: Tuesday, May 10th, 2016
Summer Grants 2015 Recipients :
Prakash Bista ‘17 Jack Evans ‘18 Nobuyuki Furuta ‘17 Prince Heto Grad Student
Jade Mack ‘16 Tuan Nguyen ‘17 Shelsea Ramirez ‘16 Daniel Smyth ‘16
Hayato Yamashita ‘18
“The PBRC hopes to support summer pro-
jects with the potential to enrich student knowledge and per-
haps make some small, humble contributions to local socie-
ties.”
—Professor Shane Barter, Associate Director of the PBRC

16. Call for Papers
Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast 2016 Conference
Imagining Asia: Urbanization, Migration,
Exchange, Sustainability
ASPAC 2016 at CSUN, June 10-12, 2016
The Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast (ASPAC) Conference will be held at California State
University, Northridge in Los Angeles on June 10-12, 2016.
We invite scholars and students with an interest in Asian or Asian diaspora studies to submit
proposals for organized panels, roundtable discussions, individual papers, or poster presen-
tations on historical or contemporary topics in any academic discipline.
The conference theme this year is “Imagining Asia: Urbanization, Migration, Exchange, Sus-
tainability.” We especially welcome proposals that connect theory, method, or practice to
contemporary or historical questions of urbanization, migration, exchange and sustainability
within, across, or alongside Asia. Any other topics related to Asia are also very welcome.
The general application deadline is Monday, February 29, 2016. International or other appli-
cants who need a letter of invitation are encouraged to communicate with the program
committee (aspac@csun.edu) for a speedy review. For more information and to submit a
proposal, please see the conference website: http://www.csun.edu/asian-studies-pacific-
coast-2016.
For inquiries, please contact the conference committee at
(aspac@csun.edu).
Page 16PBRC Announcement