<特集・足立明教授追悼> 特集にあたって : 足立明と「非近代」の地域研究

Abstract

This introductory article to the special issue remembering Professor Adachi Akira recollects some aspects of his life and thoughts by looking at some of his writings. It starts from his essay on his undergraduate days at Kyoto University when he was a student of sanitary engineering interested in environmental issues but was disillusioned by professors who spent their carrier, for example, researching about how to contain radioactive waste in cement blocks and dispose them into the sea. The article then reviews some of his academic writings, starting from his study on the labor exchange system in Sinhalese agricultural settlements, moving onto his critical anthropological writings on development, and to his discussions of 'actor-network theory' as an exposition of a 'non-modernist' area studies. Through this article, I seek to mark out parts of his intellectual itinerary, noting the transformations as well as his enduring concerns such as empirical accuracy, openness, embracement of contingency and complexity, and ecology in its broadest sense.