Making Japanese Citizens: Civil Society and the Mythology of the Shimin in Postwar Japan

by Simon Andrew Avenell

Overview

Making Japanese Citizens is an expansive history of the activists, intellectuals, and movements that played a crucial role in shaping civil society and civic thought throughout the broad sweep of Japan's postwar period. Weaving his analysis around the concept of shimin (citizen), Simon Avenell traces the development of a new vision of citizenship based on political participation, self-reliance, popular nationalism, and commitment to daily life. He traces civic activism through six phases: the cultural associations of the 1940s and 1950s, the massive U.S.-Japan Security Treaty protests of 1960, the anti-Vietnam War movement, the antipollution and antidevelopment protests of the 1960s and 1970s, movements for local government reform and the rise of new civic groups from the mid-1970s. This rich portrayal of activists and their ideas illuminates questions of democracy, citizenship, and political participation both in contemporary Japan and in other industrialized nations more generally.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520262713
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	09/08/2010
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Simon Andrew Avenell is Assistant Professor in the Department of Japanese Studies at the National University of Singapore.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction

Chapter 1. Before the Shimin: The Dark Energy of the People
Chapter 2. Mass Society, Anpo, and the Birth of the Shimin
Chapter 3. Beheiren and the Asian Shimin: The Fate of Conscientious Civic Activism
Chapter 4. Residents into Citizens: The Fate of Pragmatic Civic Activism
Chapter 5. Shimin, New Civic Movements, and the Politics of Proposal

Conclusion: The Shimin Idea and Civil Society
Notes
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This book is a much welcome addition, one that forces us to recognize the centrality of historical ideas. It is a must-read for all who want to understand contemporary Japanese society and politics."—Japanese Journal of Political Science

"This book is an ambitious intellectual history of social movements in postwar Japan . . . . [A] commendable project."—American Historical Review

"[Avenell's] text reads like a history of the people, by the people, for the people."

—Japanese Studies

"Avenell contributes an important piece to the historic puzzle."—Monumenta Nipponica

Editorial Reviews

[Avenell’s] text reads like a history of the people, by the people, for the people.

Japanese Studies - Roman Rosenbaum

This book is an ambitious intellectual history of social movements in postwar Japan . . . . [A] commendable project.

Franziska Seraphimn Historical Review

Avenell contributes an important piece to the historic puzzle.

Monumenta Nipponica

This book obviously has much to recommend it. . . . A considerable accomplishment.

Social Science Japan Jrnl - Shigeki Uno/University of Tokyo

This book is a much welcome addition, one that forces us to recognize the centrality of historical ideas. It is a must-read for all who want to understand contemporary Japanese society and politics.

Japanese Journal Of Political Science

“This book is an ambitious intellectual history of social movements in postwar Japan . . . . [A] commendable project.

American Historical Review - Franziska Seraphim