Cultural and Social Division in Contemporary Japan

Cultural and Social Division in Contemporary Japan
Author: Yoshikazu Shiobara
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2019-07-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1351387871

The recent manifestation of exclusionism in Japan has emerged at a time of intensified neoliberal economic policies, increased cross-border migration brought on by globalization, the elevated threat of global terrorism, heightened tensions between East Asian states over historical and territorial conflicts, and a backlash by Japanese conservatives over perceived historical apologism. The social and political environment for minorities in Japan has shifted drastically since the 1990s, yet many studies of Japan still tend to view Japan through the dominant discourses of “ethnic homogeneity (tanitsu minzoku shakai)” and “middle-class society (so ̄churyu ̄-shakai)” which positions the exclusion of minorities as an exceptional phenomenon. While exclusionism has been recognized as a serious threat to minority groups, it has not often been considered a representative issue for the whole of Japanese society. This tendency will persist until the discourses of tanitsu minzoku shakai and so ̄churyu ̄-shakai are systematically debunked and Japan is widely recognized as both multiethnic and socio-economically stratified. Today, as with most advanced capitalist countries, serious social divides occasioned by the impacts of globalization and neoliberalism have destabilized Japanese society. This book explores not only how Japanese society is diversified and unequal, but also how diversity and inequality have caused people to divide into separate realities from which conflict and violence have emerged. It empirically examines the current situation while considering the historical development of exclusionism from the interdisciplinary viewpoints of history, policy studies, cultural studies, sociology and cultural anthropology. In addition to analyzing the realities of division and exclusionism, the authors propose theoretical alternatives to overcome such cultural and social divides.

Rethinking Ethnic Studies

Rethinking Ethnic Studies
Author: R. Tolteka Cuauhtin
Publisher:
Total Pages: 363
Release: 2019
Genre: Ethnology
ISBN: 9780942961027

As part of a growing nationwide movement to bring Ethnic Studies into K-12 classrooms, Rethinking Ethnic Studies brings together many of the leading teachers, activists, and scholars in this movement to offer examples of Ethnic Studies frameworks, classroom practices, and organizing at the school, district, and statewide levels. Built around core themes of indigeneity, colonization, anti-racism, and activism, Rethinking Ethnic Studies offers vital resources for educators committed to the ongoing struggle for racial justice in our schools.

Rethinking Multiculturalism

Rethinking Multiculturalism
Author: Bhikhu C. Parekh
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 396
Release: 2002
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780674009950

Bhikhu Parekh argues for a pluralist perspective on cultural diversity. Writing from both within the liberal tradition and outside of it as a critic, he challenges what he calls the "moral monism" of much of traditional moral philosophy, including contemporary liberalism--its tendency to assert that only one way of life or set of values is worthwhile and to dismiss the rest as misguided or false. He defends his pluralist perspective both at the level of theory and in subtle nuanced analyses of recent controversies. Thus, he offers careful and clear accounts of why cultural differences should be respected and publicly affirmed, why the separation of church and state cannot be used to justify the separation of religion and politics, and why the initial critique of Salman Rushdie (before a Fatwa threatened his life) deserved more serious attention than it received. Rejecting naturalism, which posits that humans have a relatively fixed nature and that culture is an incidental, and "culturalism," which posits that they are socially and culturally constructed with only a minimal set of features in common, he argues for a dialogic interplay between human commonalities and cultural differences. This will allow, Parekh argues, genuinely balanced and thoughtful compromises on even the most controversial cultural issues in the new multicultural world in which we live.

Re-thinking Diversity

Re-thinking Diversity
Author: Cordula Braedel-Kühner
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 303
Release: 2015-12-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3658115025

This volume entails a collection of new ideas, themes and questions towards a phenomenon which we are used to refer to with the key term “diversity”. The aim of the book is to offer a cultural sciences perspective on “diversity”, to advance knowledge about it and enrich the dialogue between academics and practitioners in related domains of action. Today, changes in the demographic structures of the population, the migration flux, multiculturalism, the rising awareness concerning minorities’ rights, gender studies and so on lead to a complex picture of what “diversity” means. The narrative of a society and of most organizations is constituted by multiple layers of social categorization, segregation and identity. Therefore, “diversity” defies simple definition. The contributions in this volume approach the phenomenon from different angles and reveal new theoretical, methodological and practical perspectives on it.

The Oxford Handbook of Diversity in Organizations

The Oxford Handbook of Diversity in Organizations
Author: Regine Bendl
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 673
Release: 2015
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0199679800

Description of the foundations of organizing and managing diversities, and multidisciplinary, intersectional and critical analyses on key issues.

Rethinking 21st Century Diversity in Teacher Preparation, K-12 Education, and School Policy

Rethinking 21st Century Diversity in Teacher Preparation, K-12 Education, and School Policy
Author: Suniti Sharma
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2019-01-14
Genre: Education
ISBN: 303002251X

This book offers educators new understandings of 21st century diversity emerging from contemporary national events within the U.S., global movements, and changes in the world political order that have long-lasting impact on local education and call for rethinking traditional generalizations and empirical prescriptions for inclusivity in teaching and learning. The book expands the literature on teacher preparation and intercultural education by providing the educational community with critical perspectives, theoretical approaches, and research methodologies for educational inquiry responsive to diversity. Driven by changes in classroom diversity this book offers educators, researchers and policy makers a language for articulating complex differences in educational reform, policy and practice.

On Being Included

On Being Included
Author: Sara Ahmed
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2012-03-28
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0822352362

Ahmed argues that a commitment to diversity is frequently substituted for a commitment to actual change. She traces the work that diversity does, examining how the term is used and the way it serves to make questions about racism seem impertinent. Her study is based in universities and her research is primarily in the UK and Australia, but the argument is equally valid in North America and beyond.

Discourse in Late Modernity

Discourse in Late Modernity
Author: Lilie Chouliaraki
Publisher:
Total Pages: 188
Release: 1999
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN:

Discourse in Late Modernity sets out to show that critical discourse analysis is strongly positioned to address empirical research and theory-building across the social sciences, particularly research and theory on the semiotic/linguistic aspects of the social world. It situates critical discourse analysis as a form of critical social research in relation to diverse theories from the philosophy of science to social theory and from political science to sociology and linguistics. First, the authors clarify the ontological and epistemological assumptions of critical discourse analysis - its view of what the social world consists of and how to study it - and, in so doing, point to the connections between critical discourse analysis and critical social scientific research more generally. Secondly, they relate critical discourse analysis to social theory, by creating a research agenda in contemporary social life on the basis of narratives of late modernity, particularly those of Giddens, Habermas, and Harvey as well as feminist and postmodernist approaches. Thirdly, they show the relevance of sociological work in the analysis of discursive aspects of social life, drawing on the work of Bourdieu and Bernstein to theorise the dialectic of social reproduction and change, and on post-structuralist, post-colonial and feminist work to theorise the dialectic of complexity and homogenisation in contemporary societies. Finally, they discuss the relationship between systemic-functional linguistics and critical discourse analysis, showing how the analytical strength of each can benefit from the other.* Sets out a new and distinctive theoretical grounding and research agenda for critical discourse analysis* Interdisciplinary in scope* Draws on a broad range of theories and approaches

Educators' Discourses on Student Diversity in Canada

Educators' Discourses on Student Diversity in Canada
Author: Diane Gérin-Lajoie
Publisher: Canadian Scholars’ Press
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2008
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1551303469

This text examines recent changes to the Canadian educational system and their impact on the role of the school - most significantly how the school must now function as an agent of inclusion for students who are not part of the mainstream school population.