Page 25 - Changing Living Spaces

An Introduction to the Living Spaces Concept

this book: subsistence, sustenance and changing Living Spaces, table 3
shows how each chapter narrows down the issues in each context by tar-
geting the elements and items of Living Spaces. As shown in table 3, this
book addresses twenty-six topics.
Table 3 divides the topics into three sections and shows which topics
are covered in each section. Regarding subsistence, only the food basket
was discussed in each section: social and economic contexts; resource use;
natural variables. Almost all the issues of sustenance were covered in the
chapters of each part, excepting fiscal state policy and capital accumula-
tion. Finally, changing Living Spaces could not contain the discussions on
heat energy supply area. Clearly, future research in this area is desirable.
Although there is a relatively large amount of research on Japan and
Europe in this book, there is one topic that has not been addressed in ei-
ther region: ‘the resolution of disputes, struggles, and wars’. On the other
hand, the regional study of South Asia has only two chapters. Therefore,
many of the themes have not been fully developed. These include ‘local
administrative capacity’ and ‘fiscal state policy’, which are part of the sec-
tion of sustenance, and ‘family demography’ in the subsistence sector.
Comparing Europe, Japan, and South Asia, the difference in the exist-
ence of administrative data is significant. While there are significant dif-
ferences within Europe and between Europe and Japan, there are also fun-
damental differences in historical data and current regional information
on colonized areas. Even when the same academic question is asked, the
evidence for the argument itself varies widely. However, this means not
only that international comparative research is difficult, but also that it is
important to find ways to overcome the imbalance highlighted by table 4.
At first glance, the elements of Living Spaces may look like a multi-fac-
eted list. It is indeed multi-faceted and interrelated, pointing to specif-
ic problem areas and issues. However, as noted earlier, academic are-
as where there is insufficient research accumulation can be highlighted
as areas where future progress can be expected. As before, future envi-
ronmental history research will involve economic history research, so-
cial history research, general history research, archaeology, and other
disciplines. The concept of Living Spaces, including its components and
various combinations of components, helps identify relevant topics and,
thus, disciplines. A multidisciplinary field of environmental history can
develop as a new form of ecological research that incorporates geogra-
phy, meteorology, network science, and many other related fields, and
can then feed back into socioeconomic history research as a new topic. In

23