Convener(s): Professor Roger Goodman, Professor Takehiko Kariya, and Dr. Natalia Doan
Speaker(s): Professor Oguma Eiji, Professor in the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University
These seminars will occur live and will not be recorded. Unauthorized recording is strictly prohibited.
Please click on the seminar title to register in advance and receive the meeting details.
The Dual Structure of Japanese Society: A Perspective on Work, Education, and Politics in Japan
Abstract:
Japanese social scientists in the 1950s advocated the theory that Japan had a dual structure represented by the modern sector and the traditional sector. Most of the workers in the modern sector were educated males, and the traditional sector included more women, elderly, and teens than the modern sector. As a reflection of the dual modern/traditional structure lingering in Japanese society, the Japanese labor market has been divided into two sectors, and the increase in non-standard workers and poverty in the secondary labor market have emerged as problems since the 1990s. This seminar will give a perspective of Japanese society from a historical and sociological analysis.
Speaker Information:
Eiji OGUMA / 小熊英二is Professor in the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University. His socio-historical works on Japan cover national identity, colonial policy, post-war democratic thought, the 1968 student movement and Japan’s employment system. He has been awarded seven prizes for his publications and one prize for filmmaking in Japan. His major publications in English are A Genealogy of ‘Japanese’ Self-Images (Trans Pacific Press, 2002) and The Boundaries of ‘the Japanese’ vols. 1 and 2 (Trans Pacific Press, 2014 and 2017).
Additional Information:
Do you have a question you would like to ask the guest speaker? Please email questions at least three hours in advance to Dr Natalia Doan (natalia.doan at wadham.ox.ac.uk) or submit questions during the webinar using the Q&A feature.
The Nissan Seminars will be live-streamed only, with no recorded version or slides shared after the event, so please be sure to register and attend the live seminar to avoid disappointment. Thank you for your interest in the Nissan Seminar series.
