The Emergence of the Article 9 Association and Reorganization of Social Movements in Contemporary Japan: a Story of Network Practice for Social Change
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THE EMERGENCE OF THE ARTICLE 9 ASSOCIATION AND REORGANIZATION OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN CONTEMPORARY JAPAN: A STORY OF NETWORK PRACTICE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI`I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN SOCIOLOGY MAY 2017 By Yoko Iida Dissertation Committee: Patricia G. Steinhoff, Chairperson Hagen Koo David T. Johnson Sun-ki Chai Lonny E. Carlile Keywords: Social movements, Political process, Protest cycles, Abeyance, Networks, Relational sociology ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Copyright © 2017 Yoko Iida To my father, Hiroshi Iida, in celebration of the ultimate optimism. And to my son, Yohji Eduard Iida, in celebration of the universal humanity. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation is a result of many helping hands. I am greatly indebted especially to two very generous persons: First is my chairperson, Dr. Patricia G. Steinhoff, who guided me throughout my student life at UH Mānoa with her knowledge of Japanese society, scholarly well- roundedness, kindness, and warm-heartedness. I can never repay her for the time and energy she had invested in my work, but at least, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and respect to her here. Second is my father, Hiroshi Iida, without whose support and willingness to babysit my newborn son when I needed the time for writing, it was not possible for me to complete the dissertation. “The 1960s generation” himself, his personal accounts provided invaluable insights to this dissertation. I would also like to thank my committee members, Drs. Hagen Koo, David Johnson, Sun-ki Chai, and Lonny Carlile, whose expertise and constructiveness helped tremendously to sharpen my analyses. Their suggestions made critical differences to the final product. I am also thankful to my fellow graduate students who shared a lot of fun times together on and off campus while we lived in Honolulu, and especially to Sang Pahk, whose comments and suggestions for my work after the defense inspired me to push through the final revision processes. He made the very last stretch possible for me. Hiroki Igarashi, Sulaiman Mappiasse, and Gita Neupane had also become my kindred spirits through the past decade, while located in our respective places, striving for different goals. Their companionship taught me it is important to show that you care what/who you care. Finally, and most fundamentally, this dissertation would not have been even conceived without those who took part in the movement of the Article 9 Association, and more generally in social movements in Japan, and generously shared their stories with me. Among others, I am particularly indebted to Professor Komori Yōichi, who connected me to the key persons in respective local areas, so that I could conduct my field research and interviews. Their dedication to social change continues to inspire me even after this dissertation, and motivates me to take my own actions. Also, importantly, my study was supported by several scholarships and grants, including the School of Asian and Pacific Studies Teaching Assistantship, the Department of Sociology Teaching and Research Assistantships, Hanayo Sasaki Graduate Merit Award, the Center for Japanese Studies Fellowship, and the Matsunaga Institute for Peace Dissertation Writing Award. Lastly, to represent many more names that should be mentioned here, I extend my thanks to my partner Eduard Josef Kutrowatz, for his understanding of my choices, and for his music that is an inspiration for our common humanity. ABSTRACT! Article 9 of the 1946 Japanese Constitution is one of the few constitutional laws that “forever renounces war as the sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international dispute” (the first clause). What makes the article even more progressive is the second clause, which further renounces the right to maintain “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential” and the right of belligerency of the state. Famous for this “peace clause”, the Japanese constitution has remained contested ever since its establishment, but has resisted challenges in the National Diet and the courts for seventy years. After the massive protest cycles of the 1960s to early 1970s, protest activity in Japan declined, and there was no major protest mobilization over this issue for several decades. Suddenly in 2004, however, a new movement called the Article 9 Association (Kyūjō no kai) emerged, and grew rapidly to encompass over 7,500 chapters across Japan and abroad. What led to this new social movement and how and why did it grow so rapidly after such a long period of quiescence? This dissertation examines these puzzles using social movement concepts and theories. The study accepts as its foundation McAdam’s political process framework (1982) to understand how the longstanding contentious issue re-emerged as a new social movement under new political and social conditions in the 2000s. This is a movement that re-emerged after a long period of abeyance (Whittier 1997; Crossley and Taylor 2015), and to understand the movement’s emergence and rapid rise under these new conditions, it uses the perspective that social movements are network structures (Diani and McAdam 2003). In examining closely how the Article 9 Association re-mobilized old networks and created new ones, the study not only demonstrates that the life of social movements may ! i! continue across protest cycles through network practices, but also contributes a more relational understanding to social movement theories of movement continuity. It thus proposes what is understood as ‘continuity’ through certain actors’ maintenance efforts may be understood as infinite processes of network formation and reorganization of social movements-as-networks. ! ii! TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract............................................................................................................................................ i Table of Contents.......................................................................................................................................................iii List of Tables………………………………………………………………………………. vi List of Diagrams…………………………………………………………………………….vii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................1 The Initial Appeal ................................................................................................................1 Purpose of the Study ..........................................................................................................10 Composition of the Study ..................................................................................................13 CHAPTER II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .........................................................................18 Life of Social Movements: Political Process, Cycles of Protest, and Abeyance Structure ............................................................................................................................................18 The Roles of Networks in Social Movements ...................................................................20 Networks as Independent and Dependent Variables for Mobilization ..................20 Networks at Different Levels of Mobilization ........................................................22 Working of Networks at the Individual Level ...........................................23 Working of Networks at the Organizational Level....................................24 Working of Networks at the Collectives and Events Level.......................25 Research Questions: Social Networks and Social Movement Continuity.........................27 Research Methods: Participant Observation and Interviews .............................................28 Data Analysis.........................................................................................................29 CHAPTER III. POLITICAL PROCESS AND THE 1960S GENERATION IN JAPANESE SOCIAL MOVEMENTS...............................................................................................................30 The Cold War Politics and the Japanese Left ....................................................................31 The 1960s Generation and History of the Divided Movements ........................................38 Transformation of the Socialist Party and the Loss of the Largest Opposition Party........42 Divided Social Movement in Abeyance ............................................................................43 New Challenges to the Constitution since the 2000s.........................................................45 The 3.11 Triple Disaster and Rise of the New Generation of Social Movements.............47 CHAPTER IV. THE ARTICLE 9 ASSOCIATION: EMERGENCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE MOVEMENT AND ITS NETWORK..................................................................................50 ! iii! The Original Article 9 Association, the Core Group .........................................................50 Formation of the Intellectuals’ Network around the Original Article 9 Association ........55 Formation of the Grassroots Chapters of the Article 9 Association ..................................58 Local Chapters.......................................................................................................60 Occupation- and Workplace-Based Chapters .......................................................69 University Chapters ...............................................................................................71