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General Module Description
The Japanese employment system and institutions have received much academic and popular attention from the post-war years to the present day. Peculiar Japanese employment characteristics such as lifetime employment, seniority-based wages, and enterprise-based unions have been seen by many as the defining drive that propelled Japan to economic miracles up until the late 1980s. Since then, there has been a wide consensus that “something had happened”, as two “lost decades” in the Japanese economy persist. Institutions and practices that once proved to be resilient and robust are now increasingly under pressure to offer job-seekers the same extent of certainty and lifetime opportunity in a new social reality. In this seminar, we explore the nature and characteristics of key Japanese labour and employment institutions and practices. We do not, however, solely focus our attention on the working world, but more importantly, examine the interwoven links between the spheres of education, training, work, and employment, analyse interest and behaviour of actors and the development of institutions, norms and rules. At the end of this seminar, students will have a better grasp of the dynamics of education, labour, and employment institutions in Japan; a more comprehensive knowledge of how they relate to and influence each other; a deeper understanding of the rationale of recent policy reforms concerning diverse aspects of labour and employment, as well as why they have not achieved the expected outcome.
In this year’s seminar a topical focus will lay on migration. The aging of society and the decrease in(working) population results in scarcity of labor and – despite the political rhetoric – will lead to further increase of various forms of labour related migration.
Literature:
General introduction to Japan (highly recommended for those with little background knowledge on Japanese society)
Sugimoto, Yoshio. 2014. An introduction to Japanese society (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sugimoto, Yoshio. 2014. Japanese society: Inside out and outside in. International Sociology, 29(3): 191-208.
Kevenhörster, Paul; Pascha, Werner; Shire, Karen A. 2010 (2nd. ed.). Japan: Wirtschaft - Gesellschaft – Politik. Wiesbaden: VS, Verl. für Sozialwiss.
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