Japan’s ‘pro-nuclear civil society’: Power in the analysis of social capital and civil society

ABSTRACT

Civil society research can be categorized into a school in the tradition of Gramsci focusing on social movements and a Tocquevillean school focusing on associations and social capital. The author reviews both schools’ research on the Japanese case and analyses a number of pro-nuclear citizen groups built up by the Japanese nuclear industry. The author analyses their financial data and historical development to demonstrate that they have been built up as countermovement by the nuclear industry. The author traces their mobilization processes to criticize the social capital approach. In Japanese political science, traditionally a dense web of hierarchical associations and ties of obligation have been seen as enforcing clientelism and top-down political control. This makes Japan an interesting case for the social capital approach. Social capital researchers have reinterpreted hierarchical networks as indicators of a strong civil society. Taking into account Bourdieu’s notion of social capital challenges this view and supports arguments of state influence forwarded by parts of the Gramscian school.

KEYWORDS:

• Japan
• civil society
• Gramsci
• Bourdieu
• social capital
• nuclear power
• counter-movements
• astroturfing

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Although Garon’s work has inspired the model of an ‘activist state’, he originally did not use the term civil society; see p. 10 on this point.

2 Because Pekkanen uses both ‘Civil society I’ and ‘Civil society II’ elements in different papers with somewhat contrasting nuances I have summarized his different papers under different schools of civil society research.

3 A good example of such an approach is Ogawa (2009). Pharr (2003) also makes a similar argument, although many of the case studies she draws from focus mainly on conflict between state and society.

4 In contrast to Putnam’s notion, Bourdieu’s is compatible with the Japanese literature on hierarchical networks. Bourdieu’s concept does not include any causal link to democracy and good governance. This might owe to the fact that Bourdieu developed the notion in studies of traditional Algerian society.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Humer Foundation for Academic Talent, Forschungskredit of University of Zurich, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science [grant number GR 16108] and the UZH Alumni Research Talent Development Fund.