71 research outputs found
Industrial associations as ideational platforms : why Japan resisted American-style shareholder capitalism
Significant wage and treatment differentials between regular workers in long-term employment and precarious non-regular workers have been a major political issue in Japan since the mid-1990s. I argue this phenomenon was caused by Japanese societyâs resistance to American neoliberal hegemony. Why has Japan resisted it, and how has the resistance resulted in the rapid increase in the working poor? I contend anti-liberal, anti-free market norms of Japanese society centred on âsystemic supportâ have bolstered resistance to convergence in order to prevent capitalist dominance from severing long-term social ties, such as management-labour cooperation. My broadened definition of systemic support incorporates dominant elitesâ support and protection of subordinates in exchange for their loyalty and obedience. This paper will explore reasons for the resistance to convergence by examining an ideational conflict within Japanese elites between the market liberalisation and anti-free market camps, particularly between two major industrial associations, Keidanren and Keizai Doyukai, which have played a key role as âideational platformsâ for Japanese corporate society. Under the Hashimoto (1996-8) and Koizumi (2001-6) administrations, the market liberalisation camp gained influence, but since 2006, both the anti-free market camp and its subordinates (e.g. regular workers) have driven anti-neoliberal backlash
New regional community creation through videoâbased information networks â a case study of regional vitalization through the promotion of information technology in Japan
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