Bernard Bernier

Dispossession and changes in class relations in Japan since 1980

Postwar Japan was marked by the definition of a new rather stable hegemony that linked families closely to the education system and to the economy. The main objective of the dominant class was economic growth, and in order to achieve such an objective, they put into place measures to distribute income. As a consequence, there appeared an ideology of Japan as a giant middle-class society. This hegemony was weakened by the prosperity of the 1980s, but even more by the serious economic difficulties of 1990— 2003 and 2008—10. The last period saw many types of dispossession that resulted in changes in class relations, including a dislocation of the so-called middle class.

Social Evolution, Economic Development and Culture: What It Means to Take Japan Seriously

A complilation of a range of Ronald Dores writings, making his insights from Japan accessible across a range of social science disciplines. It produces a perspective with four interlinking themes - technology-driven social evolution, late development, culture, and polemics.