No.34 Seminar ： The Changing life of the Salaryman: Examining Individualization in Japanese Society
- Yohei MURATA（The Hakubi Center）,guest speaker： Futoshi TAGA（Kansai University)
- 2012/01/24 4:00pm
- The Hakubi Center (iCeMS West Wing 2F, Seminar Room)
- Japanese
Summary
Recent social theory suggests that human society entered a new stage in the late twentieth century. One of the main features of the stage is “individualization.” Rapid social change undermined traditional mores, made it difficult to define what was “standard,” and eventually forced people to make “self-choices” concerning lifestyle and life course. The consequence is that people are obliged to take responsibility for their “self-choice,” while they can depend less on communities and social security services to support their lives. In order to examine the actual conditions of individualization in Japanese society today, it is appropriate to look at the changing pattern of the salaryman’s life, which has been a standard model of how to live for Japanese men since the period of postwar economic growth. Using cases from my own interview project conducted with co-researchers, as well as existing statistics, I will present evidence that demonstrates diversifying patterns of salarymen’s lives. I will explain these in terms of globalization and the change of working conditions, family values, and gender relations, while giving an outline of social theory on individualization. The audience will be invited to think about the conditions of their own lifestyles and life courses in comparison with those of salarymen.