This paper scrutinizes the growing trends and tendencies toward nonstandard employment in Japan to understand the making of new risk profiles. Since the first signs of new risk profiles emerged prior to the bursting of the economic bubble, an analysis should not, as many have done, solate the 1990s. Yet, few noticed that the growth of nonstandard employment had preceded the reversal of economic fortunes. Often, characterization of the Japanese model extrapolated from relatively secure positions of one labor market segment in the highly regulated, coordinated governance institutions. Extant models have failed to anticipate growing risks in society as a whole. This paper proposes an alternative comparative analysis by situating Japan in an historical set of accommodations, including a reproductive bargain embedded in the Fordist production system.
This lecture is part of the Sawyer Seminar – Precarious Work in Asia series, presented by the Carolina Asia Center.
DATE: November 9, 2011
LOCATION: Rooms 2008/2010, FedEx Global Education Center, UNC
TIME: 5:30-7:00pm
"Precarious Work in Japan: Old Forms, New Risks?" – Heidi Gottfried, Wayne State University
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