31 research outputs found
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Tradition and Japanese Social Organization: Institutional Development in a Tokyo Neighborhood
Anthropolog
Recommended from our members
Visible hands: Auctions and institutional integration in the Tsukiji wholesale fish market, Tokyo
As an anthropologist specializing in Japanese studies, I am often struck by the uncharacteristic willingness of economists to consider cultural and social factors in their analyses of Japan. Probably the economic system of no society is subject to as much scrutiny, analysis, and sheer speculation regarding its 'special character' as is Japan's. Put another way, emphasis on the special qualities of the Japanese economy suggests a recognition -- implicit or explicit -- that cultural values and social patterns condition economic systems. It remains an open question whether this recognition reflects empirical reality (e.g., perhaps the Japanese economic system is less autonomous than those in other societies) or is an artifact of interpretative conventions (e.g., perhaps both Western and Japanese observers are willing -- if at times antagonistic - partners in ascribing radical 'otherness' to the Japanese economy and therefore are more likely to accord explanatory power to factors that might otherwise be considered exogenous.) Recognition, however, that Japanese economic behavior and institutions are intertwined with and embedded within systems of cultural values and social structural relationships does not imply unanimity of opinion about the significance of this fact
El sushi en una economĂa de oferta: mercancĂa, mercado y la ciudad global
Urban anthropology has been simultaneously challenged and transformed as forces of globalization âvariously defined in economic, political,social, and cultural termsâ have been theorized as de-territorializing many social processes and trends formerly regarded as characteristic of urban places. Against a seemingly dis-placed cityscape of global flows of capital, commerce, commodity, and culture, this paper examines the reconfiguration of spatially and temporally dispersed relationships among labor, commodities, and cultural influence within an international seafood trade that centers on Tokyoâs Tsukiji seafood market, and the local specificity of both market and place within a globalized urban setting.
https://doi.org/10.22380/2539472X51La antropologĂa urbana ha sido desafiada y transformada de manera simultĂĄnea debido al efecto desterritorializador que, segĂșn algunas teorĂas, las fuerzas de la globalizaciĂłn âdefinida de diversas formas en tĂ©rminos econĂłmicos, polĂticos, sociales y culturalesâ han ocasionado en muchas tendencias y procesos sociales antes considerados caracterĂsticos de las zonas urbanas. Ante un aparentemente desplazado1 paisaje urbano de flujos globales de capital, comercio, mercancĂa y cultura, este artĂculo estudia la reconfiguraciĂłn de las relaciones, espacial y temporalmente dispersas, entre el trabajo, las mercancĂas y la influencia cultural en el comercio internacional de mariscos, cuyo centro estĂĄ ubicado en el mercado de productos marinos de Tsukiji, en Tokio. TambiĂ©n analiza la particularidad local tanto del mercado como del lugar mismo en un entorno urbano globalizado.
https://doi.org/10.22380/2539472X5
Sushi in the United States, 1945-1970
Sushi first achieved widespread popularity in the United States in
the mid-1960s. Many accounts of sushiâs US establishment foreground
the role of a small number of key actors, yet underplay
the role of a complex web of large-scale factors that provided the
context in which sushi was able to flourish. This article critically
reviews existing literature, arguing that sushiâs US popularity
arose from contingent, long-term, and gradual processes. It examines
US newspaper accounts of sushi during 1945â1970, which
suggest the discursive context for US acceptance of sushi was
considerably more propitious than generally acknowledged.
Using California as a case study, the analysis also explains
conducive social and material factors, and directs attention to
the interplay of supply- and demand-side forces in the favorable
positioning of this ânewâ food. The article argues that the US
establishment of sushi can be understood as part of broader
public acceptance of Japanese cuisine
When East Meets West: International Change and Its Effects on Domestic Cultural Institutions
Domestic governments increasingly face the pressure to follow policy developments occurring at the international or supranational level. Yet international laws and policies need to be âtranslatedâ to suit domestic political institutions and newly adopted policies may challenge or contradict preexisting domestic policies, institutions, and interests. To explore the domestic impact of international institutional developments, we studied the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage and its adoption in four countries (Japan, China, France, and Germany). Using historical institutionalism, this comparative case study sheds light on the effects of the Convention on cultural governance systems in two supposedly different âcampsâ within the UNESCO: the East and the West. The study argues that it is the interaction and entangled relationship of exogenous and endogenous factors over time, particularly the timing and sequence in which they constrain and facilitate change, which shape actorsâ preferences and institutional development at both levels
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Disasters, Natural and Unnatural: Reflections on March 11, 2011, and Its Aftermath
Anthropolog
El sushi en una economĂa de oferta: mercancĂa, mercado y la ciudad global
La antropologĂa urbana ha sido desafiada y transformada de manera simultĂĄnea debido al efecto desterritorializador que, segĂșn algunas teorĂas, las fuerzas de la globalizaciĂłn âdefinida de diversas formas en tĂ©rminos econĂłmicos, polĂticos, sociales y culturalesâ han ocasionado en muchas tendencias y procesos sociales antes considerados caracterĂsticos de las zonas urbanas. Ante un aparentemente desplazado1 paisaje urbano de flujos globales de capital, comercio, mercancĂa y cultura, este artĂculo estudia la reconfiguraciĂłn de las relaciones, espacial y temporalmente dispersas, entre el trabajo, las mercancĂas y la influencia cultural en el comercio internacional de mariscos, cuyo centro estĂĄ ubicado en el mercado de productos marinos de Tsukiji, en Tokio. TambiĂ©n analiza la particularidad local tanto del mercado como del lugar mismo en un entorno urbano globalizado