November 14, 2008
Mary Alice Haddad (Wesleyan University)
From State to Society: Democratizing Japan's Traditional, Community-based Organizations
At the end of World War II, Japan's traditional, community-based organizations exemplified undemocratic civil society: they were insular, hierarchical, sexist, racist, and highly integrated into a clientelistic local government. This paper
tells the story of how, over the course of the next half century, these organizations have adjusted their values, institutions, and practices to become compatible with and contribute to the construction of Japanese democracy. The paper also explains the timing of this shift, which has occurred in the last decade or so, as a result of generational change and reduction in the financial power of the local government.
Discussant: Sheldon Garon (Princeton)
Mary Alice Haddad (Wesleyan University)
From State to Society: Democratizing Japan's Traditional, Community-based Organizations
At the end of World War II, Japan's traditional, community-based organizations exemplified undemocratic civil society: they were insular, hierarchical, sexist, racist, and highly integrated into a clientelistic local government. This paper
tells the story of how, over the course of the next half century, these organizations have adjusted their values, institutions, and practices to become compatible with and contribute to the construction of Japanese democracy. The paper also explains the timing of this shift, which has occurred in the last decade or so, as a result of generational change and reduction in the financial power of the local government.Discussant: Sheldon Garon (Princeton)
