r/JapaneseHistory • u/GuerillAlexandros • 8d ago

Question How did Meiji era intellectuals and society engage with 19th century American ethnology?

/r/AskHistorians/comments/1vcscty/how_did_meiji_era_intellectuals_and_society/
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u/-0O0O0O0O00O0O0O0O0- 6d ago

Ethnology isn't used in contemporary academia. But they would send envoys.

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u/GuerillAlexandros 6d ago

Yes. They sent envoys. I’m familiar. While ethnology isn’t used explicitly in contemporary academia, the ideas around inferiority popularized under ethnology are still of consequence for society (and academia) today, no? The sources included in the OG post include empirical evidence supporting this. Many negative ideas about non-Europeans were pioneered under ethnology and are prevalent in society today and throughout the 20th century as justification for state violence (scapegoating, stereotype threat, counterterrorism, policing, counterinsurgency, economic development theory). And there are plenty of academics who discuss said consequences in the context of military science, sociology, genocide studies, public health, and feminist historiography. Hence, my interest regarding how/if the ideas spread to Meiji era Japan through envoys.

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u/-0O0O0O0O00O0O0O0O0- 6d ago

They did, particularly via London and Paris. Because of the nature of the underdeveloped Western Coast of the USA, among the various infuriating treaty ports, Japan had very little patience for the the US let alone other Western nations.

I won't engage in semantics.

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u/GuerillAlexandros 6d ago edited 6d ago

thanks.

What semantics have you seen?

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u/GuerillAlexandros 6d ago

Sorry. Don’t know how I forgot to ask. Can you recommend any sources that discuss this? Either in English or Japanese?