This book discusses Japanese conceptions of power and presents a complex, nuanced look at how power operates in society and in politics. It rejects stereotypes that describe Japanese citizens as passive and apolitical, cemented into a vertically structured, group-oriented society and shows how citizens learn about power in the contexts of the family, the workplace, and politics.
As Japan grapples with the consequences of having one of the oldest and most rapidly ageing populations in the world, it is important for social scientists and policy makers worldwide to understand the choices it makes. Particularly as policy-makers have once again turned their attention to workers, the roles of women, families, and to immigrants as potential ‘solutions’ to the perceived problem of maintaining or increasing the working population. These studies show the ebb and flow of power over time and also note that power is context-dependent — actors can have power in one context, but not another.
Table of Content
1. Power and Change.- 2. Contesting Children’s Citizenship Education: What Should Japanese Children Know?.- 3. Political Socialization.- 4. Negotiating Technology Use in Families.- 5. Who Does the Dishes? Fairness and Household Chores.- 6. Power over Family Policy: Governing of or Governing through Individuals.- 7. Creating Community at Daycare: Deflecting the Power of the State.- 8. Workers and Unions.- 9. Examining Power in Hierarchical Social Networks in East Asia.- 10. The Gender Triad: Men, Women, and Corporations.- 11. Who—if anyone—is in charge? Evolving Discourses of Political Power and Bureaucratic Delegation in Postwar Japanese Policymaking.- 12. Holding on to Power: Politicians and Re-election.- 13. Selling the Idea of Local Power: Decentralization Reforms since the 1990s.- 14. Japan in the World: Soft Power, Hard Power.
About the author
Gill Steel is Associate Professor of Political Science at the Institute for the Liberal Arts, Doshisha University. She previously taught in the Department of Social Psychology at the University of Tokyo. She co-authored
Changing Politics in Japan (2010) with Ikuo Kabashima and co-edited
Democratic Reform in Japan (2008) with Sherry Martin.
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