Kiyoteru Tsutsui
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- August 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190853105
- eISBN:
- 9780190853143
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190853105.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change, Comparative and Historical Sociology
Rights Make Might examines why the three most salient minority groups in Japan all expanded their activism since the late 1970s against significant headwinds, and chronicles how global human rights ...
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Rights Make Might examines why the three most salient minority groups in Japan all expanded their activism since the late 1970s against significant headwinds, and chronicles how global human rights ideas and institutions empowered all three groups to engage in enhanced political activities. It also documents the contributions of the three groups to the expansion of global human rights activities, demonstrating the feedback mechanism from local groups to global institutions. Examining the prehistory of the three groups, it first sets the scene for minority politics in Japan before the 1970s, which featured politically dormant Ainu, an indigenous people in northern Japan; active but unsuccessful Koreans, a stateless colonial legacy group; and active and established Burakumin, a former outcaste group that still faced social discrimination. Against this background, the infusion of global human rights ideas and the opening of international human rights arenas as new venues for contestation transformed minority activists’ movement actorhood, or subjective understanding about their position and entitled rights in Japan, as well as the views of the Japanese public and political establishment toward those groups, thus catalyzing substantial gains for all three groups. Having benefited from global human rights, all three groups also repaid their debt by contributing to the consolidation and expansion of global human rights principles and instruments. Rights Make Might offers a detailed historical and comparative analysis of the co-constitutive relationship between international human rights activities and local politics that contributes to our understanding of international norms, multilateral institutions, social movements, human rights, ethnoracial politics, and Japanese society.Less
Rights Make Might examines why the three most salient minority groups in Japan all expanded their activism since the late 1970s against significant headwinds, and chronicles how global human rights ideas and institutions empowered all three groups to engage in enhanced political activities. It also documents the contributions of the three groups to the expansion of global human rights activities, demonstrating the feedback mechanism from local groups to global institutions. Examining the prehistory of the three groups, it first sets the scene for minority politics in Japan before the 1970s, which featured politically dormant Ainu, an indigenous people in northern Japan; active but unsuccessful Koreans, a stateless colonial legacy group; and active and established Burakumin, a former outcaste group that still faced social discrimination. Against this background, the infusion of global human rights ideas and the opening of international human rights arenas as new venues for contestation transformed minority activists’ movement actorhood, or subjective understanding about their position and entitled rights in Japan, as well as the views of the Japanese public and political establishment toward those groups, thus catalyzing substantial gains for all three groups. Having benefited from global human rights, all three groups also repaid their debt by contributing to the consolidation and expansion of global human rights principles and instruments. Rights Make Might offers a detailed historical and comparative analysis of the co-constitutive relationship between international human rights activities and local politics that contributes to our understanding of international norms, multilateral institutions, social movements, human rights, ethnoracial politics, and Japanese society.
Steve Rabson
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824835347
- eISBN:
- 9780824871772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824835347.003.0008
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter examines the minority experience in Japan as a whole, by putting the Okinawan experience of minority in comparison with that of other such marginalized groups in the country, such as the ...
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This chapter examines the minority experience in Japan as a whole, by putting the Okinawan experience of minority in comparison with that of other such marginalized groups in the country, such as the ethnic Koreans, the Ainu, and so forth. It argues that a hierarchy exists that valorizes certain minorities while ranking others lower, leading to efforts by some to conceal, or minimize, whatever puts them in a category currently out of favor, and to associate themselves, as much as possible, with the majority, or with a different, more favored minority. Perceived hierarchies of status can also operate within minorities. And finally, the assignment of status to minorities can reveal paradoxical results.Less
This chapter examines the minority experience in Japan as a whole, by putting the Okinawan experience of minority in comparison with that of other such marginalized groups in the country, such as the ethnic Koreans, the Ainu, and so forth. It argues that a hierarchy exists that valorizes certain minorities while ranking others lower, leading to efforts by some to conceal, or minimize, whatever puts them in a category currently out of favor, and to associate themselves, as much as possible, with the majority, or with a different, more favored minority. Perceived hierarchies of status can also operate within minorities. And finally, the assignment of status to minorities can reveal paradoxical results.
Eva-Maria Hardtmann
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199466276
- eISBN:
- 9780199087518
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199466276.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
Chapter 1 provides an overview of the volume and outlines the research question, the argument, and the methodological approach. The volume combines three broader discussions: the first one concerning ...
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Chapter 1 provides an overview of the volume and outlines the research question, the argument, and the methodological approach. The volume combines three broader discussions: the first one concerning the GJM, the Occupy Movement, and the World Social Forum process; the second one concerning international non-governmental organizations ([I]NGOs) in relation to the United Nations and the World Bank; and the third one concerning Dalit activists and Dalit feminists in South Asia working in collaboration with Burakumin activists in Japan. In this chapter the author positions her discussion within these three scholarly debates. She also points out links between the social movements in South Asia and Japan and social movements in other regions, such as the United States, Latin America, and Europe. The methods of transnational fieldwork and the intricate relation between activists and scholars are discussed at length.Less
Chapter 1 provides an overview of the volume and outlines the research question, the argument, and the methodological approach. The volume combines three broader discussions: the first one concerning the GJM, the Occupy Movement, and the World Social Forum process; the second one concerning international non-governmental organizations ([I]NGOs) in relation to the United Nations and the World Bank; and the third one concerning Dalit activists and Dalit feminists in South Asia working in collaboration with Burakumin activists in Japan. In this chapter the author positions her discussion within these three scholarly debates. She also points out links between the social movements in South Asia and Japan and social movements in other regions, such as the United States, Latin America, and Europe. The methods of transnational fieldwork and the intricate relation between activists and scholars are discussed at length.
Eva-Maria Hardtmann
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199466276
- eISBN:
- 9780199087518
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199466276.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
Chapter 2 describes the background of the GJM and the World Social Forum process. A brief overview is given of the organizational aspects and how the concept of network has been used in social ...
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Chapter 2 describes the background of the GJM and the World Social Forum process. A brief overview is given of the organizational aspects and how the concept of network has been used in social movement studies to situate this study in relation to scholars writing on the GJM and the Occupy Movement. Criticism from the outside against the GJM is explored, but also coming from inside the movement. Ethical similarities and organizational differences between the GJM and the Occupy Movement are outlined and explore how activists in these two movements belong within the same broader discourse, focussing on a global economic élite. The chapter ends by relating activists in South Asia and Japan to the GJM and the Occupy Movement and demonstrates how activists in these regions have been marginalized in the movements and largely ignored in the scholarly writings.Less
Chapter 2 describes the background of the GJM and the World Social Forum process. A brief overview is given of the organizational aspects and how the concept of network has been used in social movement studies to situate this study in relation to scholars writing on the GJM and the Occupy Movement. Criticism from the outside against the GJM is explored, but also coming from inside the movement. Ethical similarities and organizational differences between the GJM and the Occupy Movement are outlined and explore how activists in these two movements belong within the same broader discourse, focussing on a global economic élite. The chapter ends by relating activists in South Asia and Japan to the GJM and the Occupy Movement and demonstrates how activists in these regions have been marginalized in the movements and largely ignored in the scholarly writings.
Eva-Maria Hardtmann
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199466276
- eISBN:
- 9780199087518
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199466276.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
Chapter 4 is occupied with the knowledge production within the Dalit movement in India and the Burakumin movement in Japan. It presents a historical overview of these protest movements during the ...
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Chapter 4 is occupied with the knowledge production within the Dalit movement in India and the Burakumin movement in Japan. It presents a historical overview of these protest movements during the 20th century. The Dalit movement among the so-called Untouchables is a protest movement against caste discrimination; and the Burakumin, the largest minority in Japan, have also experienced discrimination similar to caste discrimination. These traditions of protests differ in some important aspects from those found among Latin American, European, and American activists in the GJM and the Occupy Movement. This chapter thus provides a historical context to understanding the involvement of Dalit activists and Burakumin activists in the GJM and the World Social Forum process during the 2000s. Moreover, it provides a historical context to understanding their day-to-day work in between the large World Social Forums.Less
Chapter 4 is occupied with the knowledge production within the Dalit movement in India and the Burakumin movement in Japan. It presents a historical overview of these protest movements during the 20th century. The Dalit movement among the so-called Untouchables is a protest movement against caste discrimination; and the Burakumin, the largest minority in Japan, have also experienced discrimination similar to caste discrimination. These traditions of protests differ in some important aspects from those found among Latin American, European, and American activists in the GJM and the Occupy Movement. This chapter thus provides a historical context to understanding the involvement of Dalit activists and Burakumin activists in the GJM and the World Social Forum process during the 2000s. Moreover, it provides a historical context to understanding their day-to-day work in between the large World Social Forums.
Eva-Maria Hardtmann
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199466276
- eISBN:
- 9780199087518
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199466276.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
Chapter 6 discusses theories about transnational feminism in South Asia generally, but more specifically it gives an overview of the history of Dalit feminism in India. The central importance of the ...
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Chapter 6 discusses theories about transnational feminism in South Asia generally, but more specifically it gives an overview of the history of Dalit feminism in India. The central importance of the Mumbai World Social Forum in 2004 is dealt with at length to highlight how Dalit feminists put feminism more generally at the core of the World Social Forum process. This is the chapter where the main ethnography about the local day-to-day work in between World Social Forums among activists and (I)NGO workers is to be found. It takes as its focal point the broader transnational network International Movement against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR) and presents three local ethnographies from within this network: first, ethnography from the Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO) in Kathmandu, Nepal; second, from the office of IMADR–Asia Committee, in Colombo, Sri Lanka; and third, from among Burakumin networks in Osaka, Japan.Less
Chapter 6 discusses theories about transnational feminism in South Asia generally, but more specifically it gives an overview of the history of Dalit feminism in India. The central importance of the Mumbai World Social Forum in 2004 is dealt with at length to highlight how Dalit feminists put feminism more generally at the core of the World Social Forum process. This is the chapter where the main ethnography about the local day-to-day work in between World Social Forums among activists and (I)NGO workers is to be found. It takes as its focal point the broader transnational network International Movement against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR) and presents three local ethnographies from within this network: first, ethnography from the Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO) in Kathmandu, Nepal; second, from the office of IMADR–Asia Committee, in Colombo, Sri Lanka; and third, from among Burakumin networks in Osaka, Japan.
Kiyoteru Tsutsui
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- August 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190853105
- eISBN:
- 9780190853143
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190853105.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change, Comparative and Historical Sociology
The chapter offers an overview of the book starting with a summary of the history of Ainu, Zainichi, and Burakumin before posing the core puzzle of the book. It then examines literatures on the ...
More
The chapter offers an overview of the book starting with a summary of the history of Ainu, Zainichi, and Burakumin before posing the core puzzle of the book. It then examines literatures on the history of global human rights and their impact on local social movements, and situates the book’s approach in the broader scholarly approaches in the studies of social movements, human rights, and globalization. It then points to the three key theoretical contributions of the book: (1) the transformative impact of global human rights on local actors, (2) subnational variations in how global human rights affect local politics, and (3) the feedback mechanisms through which local movements influence global human rights institutions.Less
The chapter offers an overview of the book starting with a summary of the history of Ainu, Zainichi, and Burakumin before posing the core puzzle of the book. It then examines literatures on the history of global human rights and their impact on local social movements, and situates the book’s approach in the broader scholarly approaches in the studies of social movements, human rights, and globalization. It then points to the three key theoretical contributions of the book: (1) the transformative impact of global human rights on local actors, (2) subnational variations in how global human rights affect local politics, and (3) the feedback mechanisms through which local movements influence global human rights institutions.
