TY - JOUR
T1 - The New Individualism and Contemporary Japan
T2 - Theoretical Avenues and the Japanese New Individualist Path
AU - Elliott, Anthony
AU - Katagiri, Masataka
AU - Sawai, Atsushi
PY - 2012/12
Y1 - 2012/12
N2 - Recent social theory has identified various institutional forces operating at a global level promoting novel trends towards "individualization", "reflexive self-identity" and "new individualism" (Beck and Beck-Gernsheim, 2001; Giddens, 1991, 1992; Elliott and Lemert, 2009, 2009a). This article develops an exploratory overview of the theory of new individualism with reference to Japanese sociologies of self specifically and contemporary Japanese society more generally. Detailing the large-scale societal shift in Japan from traditional forms of identity-construction (based on a citizenship model of social order) to post-traditional forms of identity-construction (promoted by globalization and neoliberal policies), the article distinguishes between four discourses of the self in post-war Japanese society: the age of the ideal; the age of the dream; the age of fiction; and, the age of fragmentation. Moreover, the article examines the Japanese employment system and the emergence of new individualist employment, as well as considering the emotional impacts of a rise in suicides in contemporary Japan. The argument is that the new individualist thesis can contribute to a sociological understanding of recent social transformations in Japan. However, situating new individualism in the context of Japan also highlights significant tensions in processes of new individualism, tensions between individual initiatives and institutional pressures.
AB - Recent social theory has identified various institutional forces operating at a global level promoting novel trends towards "individualization", "reflexive self-identity" and "new individualism" (Beck and Beck-Gernsheim, 2001; Giddens, 1991, 1992; Elliott and Lemert, 2009, 2009a). This article develops an exploratory overview of the theory of new individualism with reference to Japanese sociologies of self specifically and contemporary Japanese society more generally. Detailing the large-scale societal shift in Japan from traditional forms of identity-construction (based on a citizenship model of social order) to post-traditional forms of identity-construction (promoted by globalization and neoliberal policies), the article distinguishes between four discourses of the self in post-war Japanese society: the age of the ideal; the age of the dream; the age of fiction; and, the age of fragmentation. Moreover, the article examines the Japanese employment system and the emergence of new individualist employment, as well as considering the emotional impacts of a rise in suicides in contemporary Japan. The argument is that the new individualist thesis can contribute to a sociological understanding of recent social transformations in Japan. However, situating new individualism in the context of Japan also highlights significant tensions in processes of new individualism, tensions between individual initiatives and institutional pressures.
KW - Discourses of the self
KW - Japan
KW - New individualism
KW - Reinvention
KW - Social theory
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1468-5914.2012.00496.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1468-5914.2012.00496.x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84870312716
SN - 0021-8308
VL - 42
SP - 425
EP - 443
JO - Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour
JF - Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour
IS - 4
ER -