The Global Asia Research Center holds a special lecture by Nick Kapur, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University.

Title: The Politics of Non-Politics in Late 20th Century Japan

Lecturer: Nick Kapur, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University

Date: July 28 (Fri) 17:00-18:40 JST

Place: 14-502 (Waseda Campus) *In-Person Session Only

Language: English

Contact: globalasia-office [at] list.waseda.jp

Abstract

　　Beginning in the late 1960s, a new style of “non-political” social movement emerged in Japan. These movements—including environmental, consumer protection, and local improvement movements—embraced a rhetoric of “non-politics,” disclaiming “ideology” in exchange for a focus on “issues.” Many of these new social movements came to be led by housewives in exurban housing developments. These women faced social barriers to engaging in “political” protest, especially insofar as “politics” had long been gendered as male. By strategically embracing a rhetoric of “non-politics,” female activists were able to escape this stigma and build successful grassroots political movements. And by declaring that “anyone can join,” these movements were successful at achieving a number of policy goals in the 1970s and 1980s. However, over time, the rhetoric of nonpolitics became hegemonic in Japanese political organizing, such that many recent political movements may feel compelled to embrace it even when they seek to achieve more openly political objectives.