Author Description
Since The Late 1970s, The Three Most Salient Minority Groups In Japan - The Politically Dormant Ainu, The Active But Unsuccessful Koreans, And The Former Outcaste Group Of Burakumin - Have All Expanded Their Activism Despite The Unfavorable Domestic Political Environment. In Rights Make Might, Kiyoteru Tsutsui Examines Why, And Finds An Answer In The Galvanizing Effects Of Global Human Rights On Local Social Movements. Tsutsui Chronicles The Transformative Impact Of Global Human Rights Ideas And Institutions On Minority Activists, Which Changed Their Understandings About Their Standing In Japanese Society And Propelled Them To New International Venues For Political Claim Making. The Global Forces Also Changed The Public Perception And Political Calculus In Japan Over Time, Catalyzing Substantial Gains For Their Movements. Having Benefited From Global Human Rights, All Three Groups Repaid Their Debt By Contributing To The Consolidation And Expansion Of Human Rights Principles And Instruments Outside Of Japan. Drawing On Interviews And Archival Data, Rights Make Might Offers A Rich Historical Comparative Analysis Of The Relationship Between International Human Rights And Local Politics That Contributes To Our Understanding Of International Norms And Institutions, Social Movements, Human Rights, Ethnoracial Politics, And Japanese Society.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This book investigates how global human rights norms and institutions influence the efficacy and strategies of local minority social movements within Japan. Kiyoteru Tsutsui, a sociologist specializing in social movements and human rights, utilizes a comparative historical framework to analyze the activism of the Ainu, Koreans, and Burakumin. He argues that the adoption of international human rights frameworks provided these groups with new political vocabularies and institutional venues, ultimately altering the domestic political landscape in Japan.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Comparative analysis of the Ainu, Korean, and Burakumin minority groups in Japan
- Examination of the interaction between international human rights norms and local political activism
- Longitudinal study of social movement development from the late 1970s to the present
- Analysis of how local movements contribute back to global human rights instruments
Scope Limits
- The study focuses primarily on these three specific minority groups rather than a comprehensive survey of all Japanese social movements
- The analysis is bounded by the influence of international human rights frameworks rather than purely domestic economic or cultural factors
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars in the field of sociology and Japanese studies recognize this work as a rigorous contribution to the study of transnational social movements. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the depth of the archival research provided by the author.
Page Count:
320
Publication Date:
2018-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0190853123
ISBN-13:
9780190853129
Human rights
Sociology