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"At least since the 1980s the narrative of Japan as a middle-class society (中流社会 chûryû shakai) has emerged and has remained in public and academic discourse ever since. Ine-quality as such, however, persisted throughout and has increasingly become a topic of inter-est in academia and society, termed as gap society (格差社会, kakusa shakai), circling around influences by the ‘lost decades’, the continued aging of Japan, the deregulation of labor and the support (or lack thereof) by the Japanese social security system.
Taking up on the long-standing debate on social gaps, in this seminar we will focus on inequality within contemporary Japanese society. Three dimensions contributing to the emergence of inequality will be discussed in this seminar: the graying of Japan in the context of demographic change, increasing spatial discrepancies and changes in welfare creation and their social impact.
This seminar is part of the module “Japanese Society and Social Structure” (AEAS3). Upon successful completion, seminar participants will have developed deep knowledge on social inequality concerning age, region, gender and welfare and will be able to critically discuss and evaluate academic literature on contemporary Japanese society and its social issues." |
