The Rise of Japanese NGOs

The Rise of Japanese NGOs PDF Author: Kim D. Reimann
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135236542
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Over the past two decades, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have exploded in number and emerged as a new force in international and transnational politics. Why, however, do some countries nonetheless have more active NGO sectors than others? Using the case of Japan, this book uncovers patterns of convergence and divergence in levels of activism across industrialized countries and offers a two-level political explanation for the rise of NGOs as a global phenomenon. The author argues that activism has been cultivated from "above" and shows the ways in which political structures and processes at the domestic and international level have either encouraged or discouraged activism. Japan, a late developer in terms of its number of NGOs, provided a poor political environment for NGO activism for most of the post-war period. In the past two decades, however, as this situation has changed, NGOs have become a visible player as both critics and partners of the government.. Using the concepts of international political opportunity, norm socialization and transnational diffusion, Reimann traces the ways in which domestic and international politics interact and promote the rise of NGOs globally. This book will be of interest to postgraduate students and academics working in political science, international relations, sociology, policy studies, Asian studies, international development and environmental politics.

The Rise of Japanese NGOs

The Rise of Japanese NGOs PDF Author: Kim D. Reimann
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135236542
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 328

Get Book

Book Description
Over the past two decades, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have exploded in number and emerged as a new force in international and transnational politics. Why, however, do some countries nonetheless have more active NGO sectors than others? Using the case of Japan, this book uncovers patterns of convergence and divergence in levels of activism across industrialized countries and offers a two-level political explanation for the rise of NGOs as a global phenomenon. The author argues that activism has been cultivated from "above" and shows the ways in which political structures and processes at the domestic and international level have either encouraged or discouraged activism. Japan, a late developer in terms of its number of NGOs, provided a poor political environment for NGO activism for most of the post-war period. In the past two decades, however, as this situation has changed, NGOs have become a visible player as both critics and partners of the government.. Using the concepts of international political opportunity, norm socialization and transnational diffusion, Reimann traces the ways in which domestic and international politics interact and promote the rise of NGOs globally. This book will be of interest to postgraduate students and academics working in political science, international relations, sociology, policy studies, Asian studies, international development and environmental politics.

Civil Society in Japan

Civil Society in Japan PDF Author: K. Hirata
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230109160
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
Civil Society and Japan's Foreign Aid examines the changing relations between the Japanese state and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in promoting effective aid policies and analyzes the changing nature of policy making and governance in Japan. It is based on extensive research in Southeast Asia and Japan, investigating the role of Japanese aid in fields such as education, health care, environmental protection, and economic development. It analyzes the key players in aid policymaking, including donor governments, multinational organizations, international and local NGOs, the business community, and aid recipients.

The Rise of Japanese NGOs

The Rise of Japanese NGOs PDF Author: Kim D. Reimann
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135236550
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Looking at domestic politics, transnational diffusion, the state's relationship with civil society and societal actors, this book demonstrates how and why NGOs active in global issues have become more visible in Japan. It is suitable for postgraduate students and academics working in political science, international relations, and sociology.

Civic Engagement in Contemporary Japan

Civic Engagement in Contemporary Japan PDF Author: Henk Vinken
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1441915044
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
Civic engagement is a concept of action that has become part of common vocabulary, not only in the West but also in many other regions of the world as well. A growing, yet still small number of scholarly works has recently emerged showing how in Japan citizen activism, volunteering, and social action for a public cause are dev- oping. This present volume is another, and in my view, important addition to the body of knowledge on civic engagement in Japan. The majority of books on related issues in Japan take on the perspective of organized civic life, in nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) or nonprofit organizations (NPOs): we know quite a number of things about the quantitative trends in these organizations, on their positioning, on their difficulties, and on the institutional contexts in which they have to work. We know relatively little – except for a small number of topical qualitative case studies – on broad issues that relate to civic engagement in Japan, inside or outside these formal organizations. This volume is the first to offer a wide scope of broad variety of forms of civic engagement in contemporary Japan. The volume is quite forceful in counterbalancing oversimplified ideas on an “ideal” civil society in which state, market, and civil society organizations are in- pendent and at best take on oppositional stances.

Foreign Aid

Foreign Aid PDF Author: Carol Lancaster
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226470628
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 596

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Book Description
A twentieth-century innovation, foreign aid has become a familiar and even expected element in international relations. But scholars and government officials continue to debate why countries provide it: some claim that it is primarily a tool of diplomacy, some argue that it is largely intended to support development in poor countries, and still others point out its myriad newer uses. Carol Lancaster effectively puts this dispute to rest here by providing the most comprehensive answer yet to the question of why governments give foreign aid. She argues that because of domestic politics in aid-giving countries, it has always been—and will continue to be—used to achieve a mixture of different goals. Drawing on her expertise in both comparative politics and international relations and on her experience as a former public official, Lancaster provides five in-depth case studies—the United States, Japan, France, Germany, and Denmark—that demonstrate how domestic politics and international pressures combine to shape how and why donor governments give aid. In doing so, she explores the impact on foreign aid of political institutions, interest groups, and the ways governments organize their giving. Her findings provide essential insight for scholars of international relations and comparative politics, as well as anyone involved with foreign aid or foreign policy.

Another Japan Is Possible

Another Japan Is Possible PDF Author: Jennifer Chan
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804757812
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 442

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Book Description
This book looks at the emergence of internationally linked Japanese nongovernmental advocacy networks that have grown rapidly since the 1990s in the context of three conjunctural forces: neoliberalism, militarism, and nationalism. It connects three disparate literatures—on the global justice movement, on Japanese civil society, and on global citizenship education. Through the narratives of fifty activists in eight overlapping issue areas—global governance, labor, food sovereignty, peace, HIV/AIDS, gender, minority and human rights, and youth—Another Japan is Possible examines the genesis of these new social movements; their critiques of neoliberalism, militarism, and nationalism; their local, regional, and global connections; their relationships with the Japanese government; and their role in constructing a new identity of the Japanese as global citizens. Its purpose is to highlight the interactions between the global and the local—that is, how international human rights and global governance issues resonate within Japan and how, in turn, local alternatives are articulated by Japanese advocacy groups—and to analyze citizenship from a postnational and postmodern perspective.

Becoming One

Becoming One PDF Author: Chika Watanabe
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824877543
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
International development programs strive not only to alleviate poverty but to transform people, aid workers and recipients alike. Becoming One grapples with this process by exploring the work of OISCA*, a prominent Japanese NGO in central Myanmar. OISCA’s postwar origins at the intersection of Shinto, secularism, and rightwing politics, and its vision of inter-Asian solidarity and a sustainable future helped shape the organization’s ideology and activities. By delving into the world of its aid workers—their everyday practices, discourses, and aspirations—author Chika Watanabe seeks to understand the NGO’s political, social, and ethical effects. At OISCA training centers, Japanese and local staff teach sustainable agricultural skills and organic farming methods to rural youth. Much of the teaching involves laboring in the fields, harvesting produce, and caring for livestock: what they can’t use themselves is sold at nearby markets. Watanabe’s detailed and multi-sited ethnography shows how Japanese and Burmese actors mobilize around the idea of “becoming one” with Mother Earth and their human counterparts within a shared communal lifestyle. By exploring the tension between intentions and political effects—spanning environmentalism, cultural-nationalist ideologies of “Japaneseness,” and aspirations to make the world a better place—Watanabe highlights fascinating questions and both positive and negative outcomes. Becoming One weaves together vivid descriptions of the intensive, intimate, and “muddy labor” of “making persons” (hitozukuri) with the wider historical resonances of these efforts, decentering common understandings of development, NGOs, and their moral and political promises. This engaging and thought-provoking book combines insights from anthropology, development studies, and religious studies to add to our understanding of modern Japan. *Organization for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement

Japanese Aid and the Construction of Global Development

Japanese Aid and the Construction of Global Development PDF Author: David Leheny
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135197008
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
Analyses the changing political contexts within which Japanese aid officials develop programs. It tracks the tensions facing aid officials as they seek to negotiate between an organizational bias in the Japanese government of promoting "growth-oriented" policies, and new demands for Japan to engage a broader array of "human security" concerns.

The Nonprofit Sector in Japan

The Nonprofit Sector in Japan PDF Author: Tadashi Yamamoto
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719053856
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
This volume provides the first systematic analysis of the Japanese nonprofit sector ever undertaken. Using a broad range of qualitative and quantitative data, the authors show that Japan has a much larger nonprofit sector than is recognized, even in Japan. Three-quarters of all university students attend nonprofit institutions, significant shares of hospital beds are in nonprofit institutions, and nonprofit agencies are active in the field of social services. Yet in comparative terms the Japanese nonprofit sector lags significantly behind that of other developed economies. One reason for this, the authors argue, is the generally hostile attitude the government has historically taken towards nonprofit organizations in Japan; nonprofit organizations wishing to attain legal status, have to secure the approval of a "competent Ministry," and this is often given begrudgingly or not at all. The nonprofit sector in Japan has only just begun to "flex its muscles" as an independent force in very recent years, and is now on the brink of a new phase in its development.

Japan’s Development Assistance

Japan’s Development Assistance PDF Author: Yasutami Shimomura
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137505389
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
Once the world's largest ODA provider, contemporary Japan seems much less visible in international development. However, this book demonstrates that Japan, with its own aid philosophy, experiences, and models of aid, has ample lessons to offer to the international community as the latter seeks new paradigms of development cooperation.