Although stereotypically homogenized and hostile to immigrants, Japan has experienced an influx of foreigners from Asia and Latin America in recent decades. InFighting for Foreigners, Apichai W. ...Shipper details how, in response, Japanese citizens have established a variety of local advocacy groups-some faith based, some secular-to help immigrants secure access to social services, economic equity, and political rights.
Drawing on his years of ethnographic fieldwork and a pragmatic account of political motivation he calls associative activism, Shipper asserts that institutions that support illegal foreigners make the most dramatic contributions to democratic multiculturalism. The changing demographics of Japan have been stimulating public discussions, the political participation of marginalized groups, and calls for fair treatment of immigrants. Nongovernmental organizations established by the Japanese have been more effective than the ethnically particular associations formed by migrants themselves, Shipper finds. Activists who initially work in concert to solve specific and local problems eventually become more ambitious in terms of political representation and opinion formation.
As debates about the costs and benefits of immigration rage across the developed world, Shipper's research offers a refreshing new perspective: rather than undermining democracy in industrialized society, immigrants can make a positive institutional contribution to vibrant forms of democratic multiculturalism.
Political life in modern Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan is commonly characterized by a strong central government, influential economic elites, and a relatively homogeneous society. In such settings, ...we would not expect to find much impact by foreigners and small NGO actors on policy changes, but the cases in these countries challenge this assessment. Relatively unskilled foreign workers in present-day Northeast Asia face a range of hardships, and existing government programs have provided little support until recently. Media portrayals of foreign workers—as in several other industrialized democracies—reinforce popular suspicions and fear of these foreigners. Yet, citizens of host countries themselves have formed numerous voluntary associations aimed at assisting foreign workers. I call the activities of these groups "associative activism." My account of associative activism makes explicit the process through which some activists, who initially work in concert chiefly to solve specific problems, eventually form broader political ambitions as they exert pressure on dominant features of the public sphere, especially processes of governance, political representation, and opinion formation. I identify three domains of associative activism through which political influence is exerted by immigrant rights groups: legislative, juridical, and municipal. These efforts illustrate how civil society groups can play an increasing role in protecting foreigners' rights and advancing democratization in Northeast Asia.
Several scholars have written and will continue to write about the enormous impact of Benedict Anderson's co-authored "Cornell Paper" (properly titled "A Preliminary Analysis of the October 1, 1965, ...Coup in Indonesia") and often-cited Imagined Communities, originally published in 1983, on which I have little to add. Instead, I prefer to highlight his intellectual contributions to Asian Studies that emphasize language-based, in-depth fieldwork. By combining his gift for languages with wide and comparative reading, Anderson could advance a more global/regional perspective in his research. At a time in which regression analysis and generalizable models shunt careful fieldwork to the margins in some social science disciplines, Ben taught me the value and joy of mastering this methodological skill through mixing travel with creative activity rather than just orthodox classroom discussions. He instilled in me and his other students a love for languages, literature, and film in deepening our understanding of the political culture we study.
Public opinion over illegal foreigners in Japan is highly contested. Some political leaders construct negative images of illegal foreigners as criminals, while activists portray them as victims. ...These activists provide an alternative source of information about the conditions of illegal foreigners and are an important counterweight to official Japan's more prejudiced activities. Consequently, Japanese attitudes toward illegal foreigners during the 1990s were mixed, with an increasing association of illegal foreigners and criminality and a rise in the perception of them as victims deprived of basic rights. Renewed efforts from state actors have further incited xenophobic attitudes toward illegal foreigners.
The concept of citizenship is fluid and constructed. State actors, societal actors, and courts play important roles in the construction and reconstruction of formal, substantive, and differentiated ...citizenship. The recent arrival of transnational gendered migration from neighbouring countries to East and Southeast Asia challenges pre-existing assumptions about how political communities are defined and how new members should be treated. This introductory chapter proposes an analytical framework to understand the politics of citizenship and transnational gendered migration within the context of East and Southeast Asia.
The North Korean association in Japan, Chongryun, which lacks independence from the North Korean regime, has preoccupied itself with political activities in its “home” country. It has created and ...intensified long‐distance nationalism among its members. Conservative Japanese government officials view North Korean long‐distance nationalists as a threat to Japan's national security and regional peace on the Korean peninsula. Meanwhile, certain Japanese have reacted with acts of violence and intimidation against them. For these Japanese reactive nationalists, the perceived enemy or threat from North Korea is located inside Japan itself, in the form of Chongryun. These North Korean long‐distance nationalists and Japanese reactive nationalists are creating an uncomfortable environment for North Koreans in Japan, who increasingly embrace an ideology of diasporic nationalism, or an independent existence from both their homeland and host society.
Scholars have consistently characterized political life in modern Japan as consisting of a strong central government in a homogenous society, in which defining membership rules and state ...responsibilities has been a monopoly of the state. In recent years, Japanese citizens have responded
to an influx of foreigners and a lack of government programmes to assist unskilled Asian workers by organizing support groups to help unprotected foreigners, groups that are pushing local governments to accept responsibility for caring for all their residents. In addition, the 1998 NPO law,
which granted incorporation authority to local governments, has deepened partnerships between certain support groups and local governments. The larger role that small foreigner support groups play in redefining membership rules and state responsibilities in Japanese society demonstrates the
increased political strength and independence of civil society organizations
