Tag Archives: social movements

Frame on the Social Movements

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by Hiroki Matsukura

Through learning the concept of “frame” on our society in class, I found it being the conception of exclusion from “society”. It finally decides outsiders or insiders about one issue. In this system, they, insiders, seem to ignore outsiders saying. What, in addition, we must not forget is there is not only the exclusion from the insiders when it comes to seeing from the outsiders view to protest the situation. The outsiders also create their own frame against the frame that excludes them. Thus, at last, they lead to exclude each other. We might see the social movements as one of the figures of exclusion between both sides.

Thinking of this exclusive system, we may conclude that the situation cannot be solved from this approach that people just insist toward each other what they want to do or to be. We need to establish the “framework” to include each other well. To reach such framework, we should know well about the structure of our society. In this blog post, I would like to use the Japanese structure as the example. As we can know from a lot of the Japanese contemporary novels and movies, in the old days, around 1960s, the social movements were led by especially young university students, and it was seen as a sort of extreme or crazy movements. On the other hand, the present movements are seen relatively as being milder and behaving itself. However, this does not mean their movements are thought as agreeable.

The social movements are seen as something strange as long as they are labelled with the name of “social movement” in Japan. It means that social movements in Japan are regarded as heterogeneity for the frame of homogeneity, “being usual.” Notably, the Japanese government is an important symbol seemed to be established over the frame of the Japanese usualness. Nevertheless, those who join the social movements expect the government to change its policy along with them. Additionally, as mentioned above, even in Japan we have to think about the both-side-exclusion between a frame and a frame of anti-frame existing. From this, we can point out that this situation seems contradictory. As this explanation, we can state our Japanese society is under a top-down structure. In short with a simple expression, it means when the government says something is its justice, the thing becomes everyone’s justice in Japanese society.

This is being a Japanese common sense under conscience about social activities. In any frame, the Japanese society always is cuffed with the thought. Thus, the social movements firstly try to make the government accept their ideas for Japanese politics. From the point of my view, I point out that they lose the recognition that the people themselves are the politics itself, not the government. To establish the framework to understand and include various standing points in Japan, we firstly need to throw away the top-down structure from Japan and to create a people-centred society in a new sense. Abandoning the symbol of “being usual,” we find us standing on even ground.

Social movements in Japan after 3.11

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by Yurino Kawamura

Social movements in Japan have been popular after 3.11 earthquake and Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Social movements used to be popular in Japan among university students in the 1960s to 1970s. Students of many universities, such as University of Tokyo or Nihon University, gathered into several thousands to protest for various reasons such as being against for tuition raise or change in university dorms rules. Although these movements achieved their goals to some extent, according to their violent aspect which lead to more than 100 death in total, rapidly scaled down. Since then, these movements have long been slowed down for several decades. However, as the Internet became widespread among citizens, social movements gradually retrieved its popularity. One of the recent and relatively large-scale protest was anti-Fuji television protest held in August 2011. This protest focused on the T.V. programs of Fuji television and accused that it was too much supportive for a specific country. Focusing on a fact that T.V. programs disregarded Japanese figures compared to those from a specific country, many conservatives joined to the protest. It can also be noted that social media such as Twitter or Niconico Douga played an important role in wide-spreading the protest to a massive scale. Although several thousand people have gathered, achievement of this protest is difficult to measure and is quite arguable.

Currently most popular social movement in Japan is no doubt anti-nuclear protests which had quickly spread throughout Japan after 3.11. Framing the issue as health problem especially upon small children, anti-nuclear protests have rapidly gained support from mothers nationwide. Focusing on the health issues, protesters complain that politicians cannot abandon nuclear power because they are receiving support from economic community. Framing nuclear power with economic growth and anti-nuclear power with children’s health is effective in penetrating anti-nuclear policies into housewives and mothers of small children. Protests have gathered more than a hundred thousand people in front of the office of Prime Minister. The fact that this many people have gathered shows how popular this protest has become. Now, I am keeping an eye on the next election for the House of Representative. After the 3.11 earthquake, many new parties calling for no-nuclear policies have been formed. Considering that these policies have been adopted because of the citizens’ protest, if these new parties acquire many seats in the House of Representative that means citizens’ protests have changed the political framework. Since I am eager to know how much effect can the protests make, I want to know how much change will this protest bring about.

Social network service and social movements

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by Kaori Isobe

Throughout 2010 to2011, many people in Arabic countries gathered up and did social movements. This is called Arab Spring. Since long time ago, social movements were occurred a lot by protesters. However, Arab Spring was a bit different from former ones. Want was a difference is that many protesters uses social network service to get and spread information by using social network service such as Facebook and Twitter.

Social network service is an online service and site that focuses on facilitating the building of social networks or social relations, real life connections, activities and so on. As spreading the Internet environment, the number of SNS users is increased. For instance, Facebook is strongly growing and reached over 1,000,000,000 users in October of 2012, compering to 600,000,000 users of January, 2011. Including me, users are able to write and post about what they think, pictures, links from other site and so on. Also users are able to share posts so that their friends are able to see my pots. If suppose am I post something like ‘Let’s do protest!’ or something like this on my Facebook page. If my friends like my post, push ‘Like’ to my post, and my friends’ friends will be able to see this. Then my post will spread to other people easily.

In a case of Arab spring, according to statistics, about 80percent of Facebook users in Egypt and the republic of Tunisia used Facebook to get and spread information about social movements. As social movements getting extreme, the number of Facebook users was increased. Furthermore, this social network connected to networks in real-life, which mean people who didn’t use Facebook, also could get information rapidly from real life connections with Thor friends who used Facebook. Social network service is related to social movement deeply because it’s easy to spread information and emphasize. This situation makes people get involve in social movement much easier. This is one of reasons why many people could involve in Arab Spring.

Social network service is working through the Internet, so sometimes it’s dangerous. There is a possibility that someone attacks your page with specific skills, or some information might be wrong. Thus, we have to be careful. However, as I mentioned in above paragraph, social network service has power. Young people are likely to use social network service than elderly people are. It’s getting much easier to make young people participate in social movements, and they may be going to be interested in society much more. Then the society will become much better.

Moreover, in recent years, young people tend not to be involved in society very much. This is because young people don’t have interests in society even their generation will be coming soon.  Or some of them try to change society with complaint. However, their voice is still small. I have many things to ask the government but people around me do not have interests.  I hope young people, especially in Japan, will have much more power to change society like Arab Spring.  And social network service is a good way to do it.

Social Movement Is A Process of Policy-Making in Japan

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by Miki Imamura

It is often said that Japan is not the country that there are not so much social movements effecting policy-making process.  I was also thinking so until I knew this movement which happened in Hokkaido. I didn’t know that Japan had been believed as Unitary state till 2008. It was changed by Citizen-turned-politic-activists. In 2008,  “the resolution for assuming Ainu race an aborigine” was adopted in both houses of Representatives and Councilors. (Comprehensive Ainu Policy Office, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of Japan.) This story had begun from two Ainu citizen-turned-politic-activists in 1984.

At first, I would like to briefly introduce Ainu. Ainu is indigenous people who have lived in Hokkaido prefecture. From Edo period, the Japanese central government forced assimilations policy to Ainu people by depriving their land, pushing public education in Japanese. In 1899, “Hokkaido Aborigines Protection Act” was established and Ainu was considered to be “an old aborigine”. After WWII, Ainu had been not recognized as indigenous people by the government so that there weren’t any policies for Ainu. For long time, Ainu also has been suffered discrimination by Japanese even until now. (Hokkaido)

In 1984, there was a plan for constructing a dam in Hokkaido, Nibutani district, where had been considered as “a sacred place” for Ainu. It was the important land for Ainu cultural ceremony of salmon capture. Shigeru Kayano was an Ainu who grew up in Nibutani and speaks Ainu language. He opposed the construction plan and brought a suit to stop the construction for protecting Ainu culture. Social movements had begun not only in Japan, but also at global level. There were demonstrations in Japan done by Ainu and Japanese for the protection of Ainu culture.  At global level, the representative of Ainu made the keynote speech at United Nations General Assembly in 1992 for the “International age of world indigenous people”. In 1994, the Human Rights Commission jurisdiction gave an advice to the Japanese Government about “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”, which has been said that it brought influence for Nibutani dam judgment and the recognition of the Ainu. Under those movements, Kayano became a Japanese Diet member (from 1994 through 1998 a member of the House of Councilors).

In 1997, the suit was basically lost, however the court recognized Ainu for the first time as an aborigine. Kayano continuously worked for the abolishment of “Hokkaido Aborigines Protection Act” and for the approval of “the Ainu Culture Promotion Act”.  After the approval in 1997, he resigned the member of Assembly and made an effort to regenerate the Ainu culture. It can be said that one man who wanted to protect homeland and its culture became citizen-turned-politic-activist and changed the law with the social movements.

Now Ainu recognizes as indigenous people and receives various policies for improvement of living standard of Ainu and for promotion of Ainu culture. There are various social movements by not only government, but also Ainu as well. Ainu has been promoting Ainu culture through education or ceremony domestically, and they have been promoting international conferences such as Indigenous Peoples Summit or World Indigenous Peoples Conference.　However, considering “the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” which includes acknowledgment of the rights such as culture, land and resources, Ainu should be treated more properly. In Hokkaido, there is a new wave for that. Ainu party has established in January 2012, the representative is a son of Shigeru Kayano, Shiro Kayano. They will challenge the national election for advocate the right recovery of the Ainu. (Shinbun, 2012) From these facts, it can be said that the one citizen-turned-politic-activist clearly influenced the national policy-making in Japan.

Bibliography

Comprehensive Ainu Policy Office, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of Japan. (n.d.). About the council . Retrieved 11 30, 20121, from Council for Ainu Policy Promotion : http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/ainusuishin/policy.html

Hokkaido, T. A. (n.d.). 私たちについて. Retrieved 11 30, 2012, from The Ainu Association of Hokkaido : http://www.ainu-assn.or.jp/about03.html

Shinbun, Y. (2012, 11 26). アイヌ民族党が国政選初挑戦…北海道９区擁立へ. Retrieved 11 30, 2012, from Yomiuri Online : http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/election/shugiin/2012/news1/20121126-OYT1T00189.htm

貝澤耕一. (2011). Restoration of the Ainu as an indigenous people : building a Japanese society in solidarity with the Ainu. 京都: 法律文化社.

Social Movements, globalization and gender

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by Julia Helbing

When thinking about Social Movements and globalization, there are many points that come into my head.

First of all, I think that Social Movements are very important nowadays. They are easy to start; you can just use the internet or advertisements in the radio or in the TV to inform about what you are going to do. You can create an event on Facebook and invite all your friends, who will invite other friends or post it on Twitter and other social media. This way more and more people will hear and read about your movement and maybe want to participate or support you. I think that Flash Mobs are also some kind of Social Movements. People appoint at public places to a certain time and start doing all the same at the same day, e.g. start to dance or pillow fight. After the Flash Mob is over, everyone is leaving to a different direction. Normally, the people who come to Flash Mobs don’t know each other.

In my opinion, Social Movements can really change something. For example, after the catastrophe in Fukushima, there were many protests in Germany. Germany still runs a lot of nuclear plants and even has an atomic disposal zone, which is also used by other European countries. People were shocked about Fukushima’s nuclear disaster and didn’t want something like that to happen in Germany. Therefore, they activated advertisements and thousands of people started to protest. This was reported in the TV and attracted more protester. When the movement became bigger, the government hat to react. They changed the atomic energy law and shut down nuclear plants that already were kind of a risk. In addition, they promised to shut down all nuclear plants in the future and to develop the use of renewable energy. Of course affected this changes other European countries and they are also discussing about new energy laws.

Finally, I think globalization also helped the gender revolution. Women wanted to be treated equal with men, they also wanted to be able to go to work instead of taking care of the household all day long. They went out on the streets, started protesting and this was reported by the newspapers all over the world. It influenced other women to also think about what they can do to change something. The result is that now the equal treatment of women and men is part of the law in many developed countries. And even if it is not carried out in all countries, I think it started the way that people think about gender roles. In Germany, there are some fathers who stay home now and take care of the children or the household.

So even though globalization has many bad points, at the same time some things also changed to a better condition.