The State of Civil Society in Japan / Edition 1

by Frank J. Schwartz, Susan J. Pharr

Overview

This survey about associational life and the public sphere brings the study of civil society in Japan into the mainstream of the Western literature on the subject. Its importance thus lies not only in deepening our understanding of Japan, but of civil society generally.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521534628
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/20/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.94(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction; Part I. Context: 1. What is civil society? Frank Schwartz; 2. From Meiji to Heisei: the state and civil society in Japan Sheldon Garon; 3. Capitalism and civil society in postwar Japan: perspectives from intellectual history Andrew Barshay; Part II. The Associational Sphere: 4. Japan's civil society organizations in comparative perspective Tsujinaka Yutaka; 5. Molding Japanese civil society: state structured incentives and the patterning of civil society Robert Pekkanen; 6. After Aum: religion and civil society in Japan Helen Hardacre; 7. State-society partnerships in the Japanese welfare state Margarita Estevez-Abe; Part III. The Nonmarket Activities of Economic Actors: 8. Redefining the conservative coalition: agriculture and small business in Japan Robert Bullock; 9. The death of unions' associational life? Political and cultural aspects of enterprise unions Suzuki Akira; 10. The struggle for an independent consumer society: consumer activism and the state's response in postwar Japan Patricia Maclachlan; Part IV. State-Civil Society Linkages: 11. Media and the Internet in the development of civil society in Japan Laurie Freeman; 12. A tale of two legal systems: prosecuting corruption in Japan and Italy David Johnson; Part V. Globalization and Value Change: 13. Trust and social intelligence in Japan Yamagishi Toshio; 14. Building global civil society from the outside in? Japan's development NGOs, the state, and international norms Kim Reimann; Conclusion: targeting by an activist state: Japan as a civil society model Susan Pharr.

Editorial Reviews

"The State of Civil Society in Japan is a must-read book for students and scholars interested in civic engagement in modern democracies. Not only does this important work explore the development of Japan's unique civil society in its many facets, it also advances theoretically innovative hypotheses about the role of government policies in shaping a nation's changing universe of voluntary associations. Comparativists as well as specialists will find the book fascinating." Theda Skocpol, Harvard University

"This splendid and well-written collection of essays signifies how very insightful it is to examine the profound changes occurring in Japan through the prism of civil society. This book is testimony that the study of civil society itself has successfully out-grown its Western boundaries, and is now generating fascinating insights into how society, economy and polity relate to each other in important countries such as Japan." Helmut Anheier, University of California, Los Angeles

"Schwartz and Pharr have edited a masterful compendium on civil society in Japan. This is bound to become an indispensable reference tool for Japan scholars, who will want to make use of the encyclopedic breadth of the government-society linkages explored here. For the broader scholarly audience interested in civil society, this book brings Japan into full dialogue with the comparative literature. It's the only book of its kind." Frances McCall Rosenbluth, Yale University

"Although ubiquitous, the concept of civil society has not always been analyzed clearly or developed comparatively across space or time, and Japan has been one of the many countries where the notion was neglected until recently. The State of Civil Society in Japan is the first book to fill all these gaps. It systematically traces the historical development of civil society in Japan and places it in comparative perspective, in the process developing the theory of civil society and the role of the state in shaping it. This outstanding work makes a major contribution to our understanding of Japanas polity and to democratic theory in general." Ellis S. Krauss, University of California, San Diego

"The State of Civil Society provides a detailed analyses of Japanese civil society and makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Japanese society, Japanese politics, and more broadly, civil society in non-Western industrial countries. I highly recommend the book to scholars and students interested in Japanese politics and society, as well as those interested in civil society from comparative perspectives." Journal of Japanese Studies, Keiko Hirata, California State University, Northridge

"The State of Civil Society provides detailed analyses of Japanese civil society and makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Japanese society, Japanese politics, and more broadly, civil society in non-Western industrial countries. I highly recommend he book to scholars and students interested in Japanese politics and society, as well as those interested in civil society from comparative perspectives." Journal of Japanese Studies, Keiko Hirata, California State University, Northridge

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