Date: July 26, 2008 (Sat.) 14:00-18:00PM
Venue: AA407, Research Bldg. No.2
Title:
Self-reliance, Solidarity, & Subsistence: Dialogue between Sociology and Anthropology on "Poverty" in the Era of Neoliberalism
The present research seminar was held with the aim of considering, through the interaction of sociology and anthropology, the problem of “survival” as it pertains to circumstances through which a new poverty class has been born, triggered by the move toward self-reliance (interpreted as individualism) promoted by neoliberalism.
Hideyuki Hirai, upon reviewing arguments regarding neoliberalism, noted the fact that complex disputes originating in this term co-exist among both conservatives and reformists, and pointed to the need to seek an understanding of “neoliberalism” from a discussion of the “two sides” of conservatism and leftism, not considering it an absolute or an illusion.
As a prototypical example of the neoliberalist employment organization, Yoshinobu Igo emphasized the distribution system in convenience stores, and clarified that the system of price and royalty calculation in such stores enables the head office to ingeniously offload the burden of disposal losses and uncertainty in elements such as weather and so on onto franchise stores.
Having situated the state of the Japanese welfare society in a post 1960s historical context, Norihiko Nihei pointed out that from the 1990s onwards, a new form of homelessness has emerged among Japan’s homeless population. Nihei also examined critically the “self-reliance measures” aimed at homeless in recent years, highlighting the oppressive control over people’s lives contained in the word “self-reliance.”
Yoshinari Morita drew attention to people engaged in waste collection in West Timor, noting that their attitude towards livelihood and consumption cannot be understood from the point of view of computational rationality. This attitude is a form of living which is a passive “waiting” and is incompatible with the demand for “self-reliance” indicated by Nihei. It is one that brings out the abnormality of the move toward self-reliance (individualization) in Japan.
Through the use of a variety of documents, Sayaka Ogawa illustrated the state of business and human relations among street merchants of secondhand clothes in Tanzania. In urban areas made up of young people from farming communities, Ogawa demonstrated that neither are social relations rich and closely-knit, nor are individuals cut off, and yet even where “cheating” and “betrayal” are used, a flexible social infrastructure has been built up that anticipates and permits such actions.
Teruhiro Yamakita, the commentator at the seminar, pointed to the fact that whereas sociology announces the types of problems to be solved, anthropology stresses positive aspects of the objects of study. Having highlighted this situation, Yamakita questioned what kind of social circumstances or political settings provide the background for the world written about in anthropology. Evaluating positively the fact that limitations and new possibilities have come into view as a result of the dialogue between sociology and anthropology, Naoki Kasuga furthermore raised the idea of actively focusing attention not on the problem of individualization, nor on governing solidarity, but on the areas of fantasy and nothingness.
Through each presentation and discussion, various aspects of “survival” were illuminated, suggesting the need for an approach toward issues not captured by governance perspective.
(Keiichiro Matsumura)