Failure of Civil Society?

Akihiro Ogawa is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Japanese Studies at Stockholm University.

"…a welcome addition to the still scant ethnographic literature on Japan's civil sector, providing an in-depth and multi-dimensional look at the ways civil society organizations have been reimagined, mobilized and constrained by the Japanese state and by its citizens … This book is especially valuable to the growing number of practitioners in the fields of nonprofit management, voluntary action and social entrepreneurship." — Pacific Affairs"Ogawa's excellent study is particularly valuable because of its combination of ethnographic grounding and analytical reach … His study raises important and uncomfortable questions about Japan's civil society." — Japanese Studies"…Ogawa challenges the notion that the third sector in Japan exists independent of the state … [and] offer[s] fascinating insights into the state-civil society relations." — Social Science Japan Journal"Ogawa writes an interesting, provocative examination of the development of civil society in contemporary Japan … This book will be of interest to students on non-Western civil society, scholars of contemporary Japan and of social entrepreneurship, and research methodologists." — CHOICE"…Ogawa provides a fascinating account of contemporary Japanese civil society at the grass roots. His careful and illuminating ethnography of a recently incorporated nonprofit organization (NPO) reveals important insights into the changing nature of Japanese citizenship and the relationship between the nonprofit sector and the state in contemporary Japan … a valuable addition to the growing literature on civil society in Japan." — Journal of Japanese Studies"…Ogawa's book provides a deep insight into contemporary Japan … This is an impressive study that is truly multidisciplinary in its approach and analysis." — Voluntas"Akihiro Ogawa's book is a timely and challenging ethnography of civil society in contemporary Japan." — Asian Anthropology

• IllustrationsTableAcknowledgments1. IntroductionKey QuestionsAnthropology of Civil SocietyFieldworkAction ResearchOverview of Chapters2. KawazoeLandscapeAssociational Life in KawazoeSLG’s Entry into the Associational LandscapeSocial Capital Argument3. NPO: A New Third SectorSLG: An NPO Promoting Lifelong LearningActivities Organized by VolunteersHistorical Background"NPO-ization" Led by the GovernmentResponse to the Government ProposalOn the TransitionProper NPOs?4. Invited by the StateYou Can Volunteer with a Single Finger!Discourses of "Borantia"Volunteers Invited by the StateVolunteering as Potential for Individualization?Reproduction of Volunteer Subjectivity through EducationThe Colonization of the Volunteering World5. Power and Contested RationalitiesKyōdō: Policy CollaborationA New Political TechniqueTalks toward Kyōdō: A Japanese CaseInside Discussion: Challenging the Defined BenefitsDistrust Accelerating between the SidesPushing Cost-Cutting PolicyContested Rationalities: A RealityKyōdō: A Failed Attempt6. Shimin in Japanese SocietyShimin—A Genealogy an classShimin in the Early Postwar EraShimin under the NPOVolunteer Subjectivity RevisitedNPO as an Agency in NeoliberalismShimin as Cultural Product in Neoliberalism7. Epilogue: Initiating ChangeResearch for Social ChangeEstablishing the Field SiteKnowing My Field SitesInitiating Collaborative InquiryTaking ActionMy PositionalityAppendicesAppendix 1Appendix 2Appendix 3NotesBibliographyJapanese GlossaryIndex