2024 Dissertation
Die Unumgänglichkeit der Normativität menschlichen Zusammenlebens?
Paul Johann Kramer
Dissertation, Department für Soziologie, LMU München (2024).
Research Associate · LMU Munich
Paul J. Kramer
Social scientist specialising in Japanese politics and society. Research associate at the SFB 1369 Vigilance Cultures, LMU Munich. My research examines democratic crisis management — with a focus on Japan’s COVID-19 response and the interplay of democratic resilience, local self-governance, and institutionalised vigilance.
Projects
Ongoing Research
A glimpse into current research projects I am involved in.
Featured
Governance, Vigilance, and Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan
How can effective, solution-oriented, and democratic crisis governance work? Through the lens of vigilance, I analyze how the interaction between governance structures and institutionalized vigilance enabled the activation of democratic resilience in Japan's neighborhoods during the COVID-19 pandemic.
DissertationGovernanceCultures of VigilanceResilienceGRF funded
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Vigilance in Japan’s neighborhoods during the COVID-19 pandemic
Studying how vigilance is institutionalized in Japanese society — across local government, public health infrastructure, and civic practice.
SFB 1369
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Recent Publications
A selection of recent articles and monographs.
2024 Article
»Attenzione Pickpocket!« Vigilante Appelle in Italien, Japan und der Frühen Neuzeit
Pia Fuschlberger, Paul Johann Kramer
SFB 1369 Vigilanzkulturen "Mitteilungen", 01/2024:19-29 (2024).
Visit Publisher ↗ 2023 Dissertation
Neue Verhaltensmuster der Pandemiegesellschaft: Das Beispiel „jishuku“ im öffentlichen Raum Japans
Paul Johann Kramer
Dissertation, Japan-Zentrum, LMU München (2023).
CV Highlights
Positions
Research Associate
LMU Munich - CRC 1369 Cultures of Vigilance
2023 — present
Education
Dr. phil. Japanese Studies
LMU Munich - CRC 1369 Cultures of Vigilance
Since 2023
Updates
Vigilanzkulturen “World-Wide-Vigilance: Netizens Against Trans-Spatial Scams in the Digital Age”
Zapping through the billions of hours of content on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, I came across a certain niche of content that seems to have attracted quite the audience: Vigilant Watchman of the Digital Age. The World Wide Web, with its many digital places of community and con…
— 17 December 2025
Bluesky “Back in Japan! I think I’ve never been to Haneda this time of the year, so seeing the Christmas decorations was a first for me.”
— 15 November 2025
Bluesky “Some impressions from the first day of the 2025 @ipsa.org world congress in Seoul, yesterday. Looking forward to more cutting-edge research on the second day, today!”
— 14 July 2025
Vigilanzkulturen “„Attenzione Pickpocket!“ Vigilante Appelle in Italien, Japan und der Frühen Neuzeit: Ein interdisziplinärer Dialog”
„Attenzione Pickpocket! Attenzione Borseggiatrici!“ Bei diesem Ruf handelt es sich um ein virales Vigilanz-Phänomen, eine Stimme und ihre Warnung vor Taschendieb*innen,1 die bereits in unterschiedlichsten Kontexten adaptiert worden sind. Denn Monica Poli, so heißt die Frau hinter…
— 12 December 2023