For a Better Academic Year

With only a few post published on a blog and only a limited academic activity, 2017 was not my best in terms of academic achievements and professional advancement. For reasons completely independent of my will, of very personal reasons - but luckily, not mine - most of my academic readings had to do with issues dealing with mental health and mental instability of persons that did not benefit the proper medical support when they needed to, developing into toxic unstable adults. An interesting investigation after all, but not my area of study and not something I am very keen to further explore.

However, once I settled down - at least on my side - my own version of the story, it is about time to set up my visual board and aim high for a reboost of my academic career. I am fully aware that things will not jump out of nowhere from 0 to 100, but at least, settling down in an academic mood, sounds like what I have to expect for my next 12 months. And work hard towards achieving it. 

In this new arrangement, the blog - and the Twitter account which is slowly slowly growing up (like 1 follower the year...maybe) is playing a very clear role, as a dairy which will help me keep the track of my records, but also encourage me to move forward with my efforts towards a better academic visibility and planning. The plan is to post at least twice the week, with a clear focus on books and various academic challenges specific to people with the highest academic training - as I do, with a PhD in history, a book written and couple of academic articles - but without the clear thought of actually being part of the academic establishment - at least for now. Maybe it is about time to make a change in this respect and hopefully 2018 will be the year when I will sort out my serious plans and maybe some teaching perspectives too. 

Here it is for now! Hopefully, things will get much better and I will be able to keep up with a modest schedule and academic planning!

Wish all my academic readers a happy healthy and successful 2018!

How Green is Japan?

Caught between the rapid industrialization policies pursued after the end of WWII, the peculiarity of resources and the pressures towards creating sustainable green policies, Japan functions as a well oiled engine with many different speeds. A well documented inquiry into the 'environmental technologies, innovation policies and the pursuit of green growth', this book covers a large area of domains, from new technologies to urban planning and development.

'Japan views climate change in the context of a nation that lives with remarkable levels of incertainty and vulnerability - including access to energy and exposure to environmental shifts, but starting with a long and tragic history of natural disasters that long ago affirmed the supremacy of the environment over human beings'. The green policies in this country are a complex web made of different directions, including national policies, private sector initiatives, academic researches and societal commitment. The policy instruments do receive political endorsement through various regulations adopted by institutions, financial support from the business sector and the academic background provided by the scholars in the field. 'The Japanese experience demonstrates that the appropriate application of subsidies, governmental investment, and local strategies can produce substantial environmental savings'. However the circle is not complete and accidents as the case of the Fukushima nuclear plant keep outlining the need of a dramatic upgrade and as for now, the pursuit of prosperity still prevails over the environmental concerns. 

The book offers an interesting evaluation of various policies and decisions and although it has a relatively limited focus on the political aspects of the environmental programs - including the actual commitment from various parties to green policies -, it dedicates a generous space to the content of the policies and its day by day implementation.

A recommended lecture to those interested in comparative studies of various green policies, as well as in the Japan society and its approach to environmental challenges nowadays.

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Internet! It's a Trap!

Indeed, the Internet can be a trap, especially when it comes to people that were born in the 2.0 years, without a prior knowledge of how the world used to look like when Google was just an utopic nightmare. As a journalist and academic in the training, I remember the good old days when I had to go to the library to read books early in the morning for preparing the background of an article. Or, when I had to use my paper files for checking facts and figures about a specific topic.

My life today is much easier and writing an article takes significantly less time, but on the other other hand, without a prior mental preparation about what really counts and what are the most reliable sources of information. I remember the horrific reaction of an academic friend of mine fighting to convince his students that Wikipedia is NEVER a source of academic reference for an academic paper or article. And the examples can continue.

Ashesh Mukherjee is using an academic tone and analysis for listing the most important challenges of our everyday life and development represented by the Internet perspective. What I highly appreciated was the balanced style and analytic skills, after having the misfortune of dealing with way too many academic books in German by German authors where the Internet was ostracized and considered an obvious casus belli for many society and educational ills. 

In reality, the online life might be a cause of distress and existential problems, but especially when most of the problems are already there. For instance, if someone already suffer of a serious mental disability he or she will rather suffer when using Internet unguided for doing, for example, unlimited online shopping. There are many people who instead of going to a reliable source of authority of information, are using an informal mediums because they have their own fears and obsessions in relation with thouse sources. And the examples can continue.

The Internet Trap is a reliable source of information for anyone looking to better understand the impact of 2.0 in our everyday life, without panic and hysterical approaches, but through an analytic and realistic approach. A recommended read to any academic researcher in contemporary issues and, especially, online realms.

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review