The evolution of labor relations in Japan : heavy industry, 1853-1955 / Andrew Gordon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gordon, Andrew, 1952-

Series:

Harvard East Asian Monographs ; 117.

Harvard East Asian Monographs ; 117

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Industrial relations--Japan--History--19th century.

Industrial relations.

Industrial relations--Japan--History--20th century.

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

Labor policy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Distribution:

Leiden; Boston : BRILL, 1985.

Other Title:

Heavy Industry, 1853-1955

Place of Publication:

Boston : Harvard University Asia Center, 1985.

Summary:

The century-long process by which a distinct pattern of Japanese labor relations evolved is traced through the often turbulent interactions of workers, managers, and, at times, government bureaucrats and politicians. The author argues that, although by the 1920s labor relations had reached a stage that foreshadowed postwar development, it was not until the 1940s and 1950s that something closely akin to the contemporary pattern emerged.The central theme is that the ideas and actions of the workers, whether unionized or not, played a vital role in the shaping of the system. This is the only study in the West that demonstrates how Japanese workers sought to change and to some extent succeeded in changing the structure of factory life. Managerial innovations and the efforts of state bureaucrats to control social change are also examined.The book is based on extensive archival research and interviewing in Japan, including the use of numerous labor-union publications and the holdings of the prewar elite's principal organization for the study of social issues, the Kyochokai, both collections having only recently been catalogued and opened to scholars. This is an intensive look at past developments that underlie labor relations in today's Japanese industrial plants.

Contents:

Preliminary Material

Introduction

Organizing Industrial Workers

Paternalism and Direct Management

Failure of the First Attempt: 1917-1921

Travelers' End? Hiring and Long-Term Employment

The Wage Tangle

The Enterprise Community Companies, Unions, and the Working Class

Permanent Jobs and Regulated Wages

Sanpō: Labor Organization without Unions

Japanese Labor Relations: The Worker Version

The Management Revision

Conclusion

Appendix

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Harvard East Asian Monographs.

Notes:

Includes index.

Bibliography: p. [487]-503.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-68417-252-7

OCLC:

654423007

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9781684172528 DOI