Beyond the Border: A New Framework for Understanding the Dynamism of Muslim Societies

Remarks by Masashi HANEDA, Chairman of the International Symposium Committee

Thanks to the cooperation of many people, the First International Symposium of the IAS Project, "Beyond the Border", was a success. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who put much time and effort into the symposium.

One of our goals for the symposium was to promote active discussion between Japanese and foreign scholars (instead of having participants listen passively to presentations) and to demonstrate the high quality of research conducted by Japanese scholars. Another goal was to lay some emphasis on the fact that the symposium was to be held in Japan and give thought to the opportunities that this fact presented.

We put long hours into choosing the symposium themes. I still clearly remember the heated discussion we had at the Symposium Committee meeting in March of 1998. We wanted to select themes which would enable us to achieve our goals and which would allow Japanese researchers to, in a sense, take lead of the discussion. After many hours of debate I believe that we arrived at three intriguing and important themes: 1) The Concept of Territory in Islamic Law and Thought, 2) The Influence of Human Mobility, and 3) A City of Interactions, Jerusalem. I feel that the inclusion of a session on Jerusalem lent uniqueness to this Japanese-sponsored symposium.

In order to have motivated and enthusiastic participants discussing the themes seriously, we issued a general call for papers. This was the first time we had issued a call for papers, and though on one hand we were anxious about whether this method would succeed, on the other hand, we believed that our compelling themes were sure to attract the interest of many researchers. Fortunately, we were joined by many top-level scholars who were willing to pay their own airfare to Japan just for this symposium. Although we were able to assist a few of the scholars with their transportation expenses, most of them received only minimal assistance to cover food and lodging. This meant that we needed to organize a conference truly worth the while of the participants; otherwise we would disappoint especially those who paid their own way.

However, as soon as the symposium began, our worries soon vanished. The quality of the papers presented was very high and the discussions were very active. I was particularly impressed by the penetrating remarks and questions posed by the younger Japanese researchers. All of the foreign researchers I had the opportunity to speak with expressed their pleasure at the high quality of the symposium. In particular, I was happy to hear the kind words of Professor Eickelman at the reception who remarked that this symposium was a big step forward from the "Urbanism in Islam" symposium which was held ten years ago.

There are of course a few issues we need to resolve so that we may sponsor an even better symposium two years from now. First, we did not have a fair representation of geographical regions at the symposium. This is partly due to the fact that we accepted participants based on their papers, but it is also necessary to consider why there were so few Japanese researchers who expressed a willingness to present papers. Second, due to the fact that foreign participants had to pay for their own airfare, some participants were not able to confirm whether they could attend until the last moment, and some had to pull out altogether. Third, the view that it was fatiguing to listen to many presentations on various subjects over a span of three days was also expressed.

But thanks to the efforts of the presenters and participants, the symposium was a resounding success with no major problems. Also, if it weren't for the efforts above and beyond the call of duty of the members of the symposium committee and the administrative staff, the symposium would not have happened at all. The professional staff of the Kyoto International Conference Hall was also of great assistance.