On the Margins of Japanese Society - Volunteers and the Welfare of the Urban Underclass

The popular perception of Japanese society is that it possesses a homogeneity and cultural conformity unlike anything to be found in the West. In fact Japan has its own underclass living outside the mainstream in economic circumstances that are radically different to the more usual perception of a wealthy and sucessful society. Carolyn S. Stevens has produced a new study that intimately explores the lives of Japan's social outcasts as well as those volunteers who seek to help them and as a consequence become socially marginalized themselves.

List of contents

Chapter 1 A purehabu with a view; Chapter 2 Kotobuki, the "land of longevity"; Chapter 3 The economy of welfare; Chapter 4 Taking action; Chapter 5 The human side; Chapter 6 Rituals "organized" and "disorganized"; Chapter 7 Helping out and holding back; Chapter 8 Conclusion;

About the author

Carolyn S. Stevens is Professor of Japanese Studies and Director of the Japanese Studies Centre at Monash University, Australia.

Summary

An innovative study, based on several years of living in inner city Yokohama. Stevens looks beyond stereotypes of conformity and homogeneity at what life is really like for the Japanese urban underclass, and for those who work with them.

Product details

• Authors: Carolyn S. Stevens, Stevens Carolyn S.
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 27.03.1997
• EAN: 9780415146487
• ISBN: 978-0-415-14648-7
• No. of pages: 296
• Weight: 453 g
• Series: Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; Japan, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Poverty & Homelessness, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Philanthropy & Charity, Anthropology, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Volunteer Work, Poverty & unemployment, c 1950 to c 1959, Social classes, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Social Classes & Economic Disparity, C 1945 To C 1960, Poverty and precarity, Charities, Voluntary Services & Philanthropy, Charities, voluntary services and philanthropy