yu sasaki

“Postal Growth: How the State-Sponsored Post Affected Growth in France, 1550-1800” (March 2024, Under Review)

• click here for a detailed explainer (to be updated shortly)

“Weak States and Hard Censorship” (May 2023)

“Printed Drug: Banned Books and Political Change in Eighteenth-Century France” (March 2021)

“Ethnic Autonomy” (APSR Preprint, version 3, December 2020; Twitter feed by APSA_Preprints)

• Frank L. Wilson Best ASPA Paper Award, French Politics Group, 2019

“Language Underpinnings on Europe’s Rise” (March 2019)

1. Postal networks of France (1553, 1690, 1731, 1792, 1835) based on 341 cities (all French cities compiled in Bairoch et al. 1988)

   • includes changes in travel speed between 1765 and 1780, based on information documented in Arbellot (1973), “La Grande Mutation”

2. Diffusion of illegal books in France, 1700-1789 (used in “Printed Drug”)

3. Attributes of 430 intendants (the king's representatives in provinces) in France, 1640-1789 (used in “The Royal Consultants”)

4. Attributes of ethnic autonomy in France, 1400-1900 (used in “Ethnic Autonomy”)

5. Attributes of 171 historical ethnic groups in Europe, 1400-2000 (used in “Publishing Nations”)

2022-23

• Frank L. Wilson Best ASPA Paper Award, given by the French Politics Group, for “Ethnic Autonomy,” presented at the 115th Annual APSA Meeting, Washington, DC, 2019.

2020-21

• Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists (20K13413, PI: Yu Sasaki), “The Consolidation of State Authority in Historical Perspective,” Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (2020-2024) (JPY4,160,000 or $41,600)

• Grants for Special Research Projects, “Tokutei Kadai,” for Early-Career Researchers, Waseda University (JPY200,000 or $2,000) (ineligible to use due to restrictions for full-time faculty)

2019-20

• Institute of Economic Research, Joint Usage and Research Center Programs (IERPK1917, PI: Yu Sasaki), “Information Revolution and Political Revolution: An Empirical Investigation of Forbidden Books as a Determinant of the French Revolution,” Hitotsubashi University (JPY830,000 or $8,300) (extended for 2020-2021 due to COVID-19 interruptions)

2018-19

• Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-Up (18H05666/19K20870, PI: Yu Sasaki), “A Bottom-Up Approach to State-Building in Historical Perspective,” Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (2018-2020) (JPY2,990,000 or $29,000)

  • Selected for a model research proposal by Waseda University, 2019-2021.

• Grants for Special Research Projects, “Tokutei Kadai,” for Newly-hired Faculty, Waseda University (JPY295,000 or $2,950)

• Postdoctoral Researcher (ranked Assistant Professor), Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, Waseda University, Tokyo, 2018-2021 (resigned in March 2020 to begin a position at Kanazawa University)

2016-17

• Best Doctoral Students Paper Award, Nationalism Section, Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN)

2014-15

• Best Graduate Paper Award, Department of Political Science, University of Washington

2013-14

• Joff Hanauer Fellowship for Excellence in Western Civilization, University of Washington

• Ione E. Curtis Graduate Research Grant, Department of Political Science, University of Washington ($2,000)

• Graduate Student Travel Grant Awards, Graduate School Fund for Excellence and Innovation, University of Washington ($300)

• Graduate Student Research Presentation and Training Grant, Center for Statistics & Social Sciences, University of Washington ($1,000)

2024

• GRIPS (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies), Applied Microeconomics Seminar, Tokyo, Japan, January 24.

2023

• University of Washington, Severyns-Ravenholt Seminar in Comparative Politics, Seattle, Washington, May 19.

2022

• University of Tokyo, Center for International Research on the Japanese Economy, Research Meetings on Economic History, Tokyo, Japan, October 26.

2020

• Hitotsubashi University, Institute of Economic Research, Joint Usage Online Seminar, Tokyo, Japan, October 2.

• Kwansei Gakuin University, Economics, Nishinomiya, Japan, January 17.

2019

• Keio University, Keio Applied Economics Workshop, Tokyo, Japan, October 11.

• Waseda University, Waseda Institute of Political Economy (WINPEC), Tokyo, Japan, July 24.

2018

• Kobe University, Kobe Development Economics and Economic History Seminar/Rokko Forum on Economics, Kobe, Japan, February 9.

2017

• Hitotsubashi University, Institute of Economic Research, Economic Development/Economic History Workshop, Tokyo, Japan, December 22.

• Waseda University, Global Asia Studies Workshop, Tokyo, Japan, November 20.

2016

• New York University-Abu Dhabi, Division of Social Science, Abu Dhabi, UAE, November 13.

2014

• European Union Studies Institute in Tokyo (EUSI), Keio University, Tokyo, Japan, July 7.

2024 (scheduled)

• “Domine salvum fac regem: The Early Demise of Divine Right and The Rise of Legitimacy by Royal Authority,” APSA (American Political Science Association) Meeting (Section: Politics and History), Philadelphia, PA, September 5-8.

• “Weak States and Hard Censorship,” 81st Annual MPSA (Midwest Political Science Association) Meeting (Section: Comparative Political Economy), Chicago, IL, April 4-7.

• “Weak States and Hard Censorship,” ASREC (Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture), Orange, CA, March 1-2.

2023

• “Weak States and Hard Censorship,” JSQPS (Japan Society for Quantitative Political Science) Summer Workshop, Fukuoka, Japan, June 24-25.

• “Weak States and Hard Censorship,” 26th Japan Association for Comparative Politics Annual Meeting, Yamanashi, Japan, June 17-18.

• “Postal Growth: How the State-Sponsored Post Affected Growth in France, 1500-1850,” 80th Annual MPSA Meeting (Section: International Relations), April 13-16.

• “Postal Growth: How the State-Sponsored Post Affected Growth in France, 1500-1850,” HPE (Historical Political Economy) Horizons 2023, University of Chicago, April 12.

2022

• “Weak States and Hard Censorship,” ASREC, April 22-23 (attended virtually).

• “Weak States and Strong Censorship: How State Capacity Affects Censorship Strategy,” 79th Annual MPSA Meeting (Section: Comparative Political Economy), Chicago, IL, April 7-10 (attended virtually).

2021

• “Royal Consultants: Personnel Modernization and Bureaucratic Transition in Pre-modern Europe.” 78th Annual MPSA Meeting (Section: Comparative Politics), online, April 16-19.

• “Printed Drug: Banned Books and Political Change in Eighteenth-Century France.” 78th Annual MPSA Meeting (Section: Comparative Political Economy), online, April 16-19.

2020

• “Do Books Cause Revolutions? An Empirical Test of Darnton’s The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France.” ASREC 24h conference, online, November 20.

  • Program

  • YouTube video (My presentation starts around 3:32:20—)

• “Do Books Cause Revolutions? An Empirical Test of Darnton’s The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France.” 46th Annual Meeting of the SSHA (Social Science History Association) (Section: Macrohistorical Dynamics: Contentions and State Formation), Washington, DC, November 19-22.

  CANCELED DUE TO COVID-19 OUTBREAK

• “Royal Consultants: Personnel Modernization and Bureaucratic Transition in Pre-modern Europe.” 78th Annual MPSA Meeting (Section: Comparative Politics: Institutions), Chicago, IL, April 16-19.

  CANCELED DUE TO COVID-19 OUTBREAK

• “Do Books Cause Revolutions? An Empirical Test of Darnton’s Forbidden Books in Pre-Revolutionary France.” 19th Annual ASREC conference, Orange, CA, March 27-28.

  CANCELED DUE TO COVID-19 OUTBREAK

• “Royal Consultants: Personnel Modernization and Bureaucratic Transition in Pre-modern Europe.” JSQPS Winter Workshop, Tokyo, Japan, January 4.

2019

• “Ethnic Autonomy.” Understanding State Capacity conference, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, November 28-29.

• “Ethnic Autonomy.” 115th Annual APSA Meeting (Section: Comparative Politics), Washington, DC, August 29-September 1.

• “Ethnic Autonomy.” JSQPS Summer Workshop, Tokyo, Japan, July 6.

• “Language Underpinnings on Europe’s Rise.” 77th Annual MPSA Meeting (Section: Comparative Political Economy), Chicago, IL, April 4-7.

• “Ethnic Autonomy.” 121st Tokyo Conference on Economics of Institutions and Organizations (Section: Comparative Institutional Analysis), Tokyo, Japan, March 18-19.

2018

• “Language Underpinnings on Europe’s Rise.” 114th Annual APSA Meeting (Section: Political Economy), Boston, MA, August 30-September 2.

• “Language Underpinnings on Europe’s Rise.” 120th Tokyo Conference on Economics of Institutions and Organizations (Section: Comparative Institutional Analysis), Tokyo, Japan, August 22-23.

• “Language Underpinnings on Europe’s Rise.” 18th World Economic History Congress (Session: The Economics of Nationalism in Historical Perspective), Boston, MA, July 29-August 3.

• “Ethnic Autonomy.”Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE) and Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS) Summer School, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom, June 26-28.

2017

• “Publishing Nations: Technology Acquisition and Language Standardization for European Ethnic Groups.” 22nd Annual ASN (Association for the Study of Nationalities) World Convention, New York, NY, May 4-6.

  • Best Doctoral Students Paper Award, Nationalism Section

2016

• “Ethnic Autonomy.” 21st Annual ASN World Convention, New York, NY, April 14-16.

2014

• “State Is Not What Makes Nation: Testing the Historical Legacy of State-building on Nation-building Onset for Contemporary European Ethnic Groups, 1400-2000.” Severyns-Ravenholt Seminar in Comparative Politics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, October 24.

• “Is the State Necessary for Nations? Assessing a Causal Mechanism of the State’s Role in Enabling National Projects” (Poster). 110th Annual APSA Meeting (Section: Comparative Politics), Washington, DC, August 28-31.

• “A Mixed-methods Case Selection Strategy for the Historical Origins of Contemporary European Ethnic Groups.” 17th Japan Association for Comparative Politics Annual Meeting, Tokyo, Japan, June 28-29.

• “How to Count Ethnicity: Toward a New Measurement of Historical Origins of Contemporary European Ethnic Groups.” 19th Annual ASN World Convention, New York, NY, April 24-26.

2013

• “Beyond Interests or Identity: A Theory of National Identity and Individual Attitudes toward Immigrants” (Poster). Religion, Identity, and Politics Conference, Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, May 10-11.

• “Is the State Necessary for Nations? A Comparative Analysis of the State’s Role.” 18th Annual ASN World Convention, New York, NY, April 18-20.

2012

• “European Antipathy toward Muslim Immigrants: Theory and Evidence.” First Annual IRES (Institute for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Society) Graduate Student Workshop, Chapman University, Orange, CA, June 1-2.

• “Nationalism and European Animosity toward Muslim Immigrants: Explaining Variation.” 17th Annual ASN World Convention, New York, NY, April 19-20.

Reviewer

• American Political Science Review

• Comparative Political Studies

• Japanese Journal of Comparative Politics

• Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization

• Journal of Economic History

• Journal of Politics

• Review of Economics and Statistics

• Social Science History

Discussant

• MPSA

  • “Development, Statebuilding, and Instability in Sub-Saharan Africa” (Section: Politics of Developing Countries), 2023

  • “State Building, State Capacity, and State Power” (Section: Comparative Political Institutions), 2022

  • “Political Development and State Building” (Section: Comparative Political Economy), 2019

  • “Political Economy of Contestation, Violent Conflict, and Civil War” (Section: Comparative Political Economy), 2019

• University of Washington

  • Daniel Ziblatt, “Conservative Political Parties and the Birth of Modern Democracy in Europe, 1848-1950.” Severyns-Ravenholt Seminar in Comparative Politics, November 16, 2012.

  • Ben Ansell and David Samuels, Inequality and Democracy. Cambridge University Press manuscript seminar, October 1-2, 2012.

Other

• University of Washington, Department of Political Science, Seattle, WA

  • Graduate Student Assistant, Voting, Elections, Electoral Systems project (Co-PIs: Prof. James Long and Prof. Robert Pekkanen), 2015-2016

  • Graduate Student Chair, Severyns-Ravenholt Seminar in Comparative Politics, 2013-2014

  • Graduate Student Representative, Graduate Program Committee, 2012-2013

University of tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

• Historical Political Economy (Fall 2023 syllabus, Fall 2024, graduate)

• Economic History II (Spring 2024, undergraduate) (in Japanese)

Kanazawa University, Ishikawa, Japan

• SIS Introduction to Political Economy (Fall 2022, undergraduate)

• SIS Introduction to Comparative Politics (Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, undergraduate)

• SIS Freshman Seminar (Spring 2021, undergraduate) (in Japanese)

• SIS Research Seminar in Comparative Politics (Juniors & Seniors, Spring 2021—present)

• LAW2816 Introduction to Political Science (Spring 2020, Spring 2022, undergraduate) (in Japanese)

• Political Economy in a Global Era (Spring 2021, Spring 2022, undergraduate)

Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

• Pol X 231L Seminar in Comparative Politics: Comparative Political Economy of Property Rights (Spring 2019, undergraduate)

  (in Japanese)

University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Graduate Instructor of record

• Pol S 204 Introduction to Comparative Politics (Summer 2016)

• Pol S 270 Introduction to Political Economy (Summer 2015, Summer 2017)

Teaching Assistant

• Pol S 203 Introduction to International Relations

• Pol S 204 Introduction to Comparative Politics (9 times)

  • Guest-lectured on the “Politicization of Subnational Identity” for Prof. Victor Menaldo, Spring and Autumn 2013

  • Guest-lectured on “Ethnic Politics” for Prof. James Long, Spring 2014, Autumn 2014, and Autumn 2016

• Pol S 249 Introduction to Labor Studies

• Pol S 270 Introduction to Political Economy (2 times)

• Pol S 307 Religion and World Politics (2 times)

• Pol S 321 American Foreign Policy

• Pol S 325 The Arab-Israeli Conflict

• Pol S 328 International Organizations (grader)

• Pol S 407 International Conflict (2 times)

The course catalogue of the UW Department of Political Science is available here.

• Sageman Consulting LLC, Rockville, MD, June 2009-June 2010

  • Research Analyst for Marc Sageman, M.D., Ph.D.

• Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society, Tokyo, Japan

  Japan Science and Technology Agency, February 2005-December 2007

  • Research Fellow

• National Institute for Defense Studies, Tokyo, Japan
  Japan Defense Agency (now Ministry of Defense), April 2004-January 2005

  • Research Assistant

Human

• Japanese (native)

• French (il y a longtemps)

Machine

• R

• QGIS

• American Political Science Association

• Economic History Association

• Economic History Society

• Midwest Political Science Association

Available upon request