Details

Japan has been considered a modern society of strict social norms and high levels of social integration that led to low levels of deviant behavior and conspicuously homogeneous life courses. However, since the 1990s, Japan's former success model is in deep crisis. The economy is stagnating, fertility is very low, population is (over)ageing and decreasing, the employment model is becoming frayed, and public debates are dominated an outcry over social equality and a crime panic. The dire need of reforms and the inability to reform are marking political discussions. Overall, the future viability of many social norms is increasingly questioned.

This conference will analyze deviance and norms in times of change in Japan. Deviance is understood not only as negative norm violation like e.g. criminality, but also as positive deviance of progressive norm transgression that may lead to social change and a redefinition of social norms. The conference will address classical questions of deviance research in current Japan: Is the perception of norms and deviance changing? Are norms and deviance redefined? Is control of deviant behavior undergoing change? How are social actors pushing for such changes? The conference allows not only to gain a full picture of deviance in current Japan, but to understand Japanese society from this perspective. It will address six topics that are especially relevant and interesting concerning deviance in current Japan: transnationali- zation, private life, youth, political norms, labor market, and social control.

Program:

Friday, Nov. 18

14:00-14:30 Welcome and Opening
Prof. Dr. Christian Schwarzenegger (Vice President, University of Zurich, Switzerland)
Dr. Anke Scherer (President, German Association for Social Science Research on Japan)
Prof. Dr. David Chiavacci (University of Zurich, Switzerland) and Prof. Dr. Gabriele Vogt (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany)

14:30-15:30 Keynote speech
Prof. Dr. Gesine Foljanty-Jost (Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany)

15:30-16:00 Coffee break

16:00-17:30 Transnationalization
Prof. Dr. Kaoru Kurusu (Kobe University, Japan)
Prof. Dr. Gracia Liu-Farrer (Waseda University, Japan)
Prof. Dr. Ayaka Löschke (University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany)

18:00-20:30 Welcome dinner

Saturday, Nov. 19

9:00-10:30 Changing private Life
Dr. Aya Ezawa (Leiden University, Netherlands) and Prof. Dr. Chisa Fujiwara (Hosei University, Japan)
Dr. Nora Kottmann (DIJ Tokyo, Japan)
Prof. Dr. James Raymo (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA)

10:30-11:00 Coffee break

11:00-12:30 Rebellious youth
Dr. Sharon Kinsella (University of Manchester, UK)
Dr. Stephanie Osawa (Düsseldorf University, Germany)
Dr. Keiichi Satō (University of Helsinki, Finland)

12:30-14:00 Lunch

14:00-15:30 Contested political norms
Prof. Dr. Celeste Arrington (George Washington University, USA)
Prof. Dr. Ken Hijino (Kyoto University, Japan)
Prof. Dr. Kenneth McElwain (University of Tokyo, Japan)

15:30-16:00 Coffee break
16:00-18:30 VSJF section meetings
18:45-19:45 General Meeting of the VSJF
20:00-22:00 Conference dinner (speakers invited, other conference participants self-paid)

Sunday, Nov. 20

09:00-10:30
Prof. Dr. Reiko Ogawa (Chiba University, Japan)
Nora Gilgen (University of Zurich, Switzerland)
Prof. Dr. Tom Gill (Meiji University, Japan)

10:30-11:00 Coffee break

11:00-12:30 Social control under transformation
Prof. Dr. Koichi Hamai (Ryukoku University, Japan)
Prof. Dr. David T. Johnson (University of Hawaii, USA)
Dr. Mai Sato (Australian National University, Australia)

12:30-13:00 Concluding remarks