Labor and imperial democracy in prewar Japan / Andrew Gordon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gordon, Andrew, 1952- Author.

Series:

Twentieth-century Japan ; 1.

Twentieth Century Japan: The Emergence of a World Power ; 1

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Working class--Political activity--Japan--History--20th century.

Working class.

Labor disputes--Japan--History--20th century.

Labor disputes.

Labor movement--Japan--History--20th century.

Labor movement.

Riots--Japan--History--20th century.

Riots.

Political participation--Japan--History--20th century.

Political participation.

Japan--Politics and government--20th century.

Japan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (381 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st pbk. print.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, CA : University of California Press, [1991]

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

Labor and Imperial Democracy in Prewar Japan examines the political role played by working men and women in prewar Tokyo and offers a reinterpretation of the broader dynamics of Japan's prewar political history. Gordon argues that such phenomena as riots, labor disputes, and union organizing can best be understood as part of an early twentieth-century movement for "imperial democracy" shaped by the nineteenth-century drive to promote capitalism and build a modern nation and empire. When the propertied, educated leaders of this movement gained a share of power in the 1920s, they disagreed on how far to go toward incorporating working men and women into an expanded body politic. For their part, workers became ambivalent toward working within the imperial democratic system. In this context, the intense polarization of laborers and owners during the Depression helped ultimately to destroy the legitimacy of imperial democracy.Gordon suggests that the thought and behavior of Japanese workers both reflected and furthered the intense concern with popular participation and national power that has marked Japan's modern history. He points to a post-World War II legacy for imperial democracy in both the organization of the working class movement and the popular willingness to see GNP growth as an index of national glory. Importantly, Gordon shows how historians might reconsider the roles of tenant farmers, students, and female activists, for example, in the rise and transformation of imperial democracy.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Illustrations

List of Tables, Graphs, and Maps

Abbreviations

Preface

Introduction

1. The Movement for Imperial Democracy

2. The Urban Crowd and Politics, 1905-18

3. Labor Disputes and the Working Class in Tokyo

4. Building a Labor Movement:: Nankatsu Workers and the Yūaikai

5. Imperial Democracy as a Structure of Rule

6. Nuclei of the Workers' Movement

7. The Labor Offensive in Nankatsu, 1924-29

8. Working-Class Political Culture under Imperial Democracy

9. The Depression and the Workers' Movement

10. The Social Movement Transformed, 1932-35

11. Imperial Fascism, 1935-40

Conclusion

Appendix A. Public Assemblies in Tokyo, 18831938

Appendix B. Victims of the Kameido Incident, September 4, 1923

Bibliographic Essay

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780585110974

0585110972

9780520913301

0520913302

OCLC:

44965882