Book Cover
E-book
Author Gordon, Andrew, 1952-

Title Labor and imperial democracy in prewar Japan / Andrew Gordon
Published Berkeley : University of California Press, ©1991

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Description 1 online resource (xvi, 364 pages) : illustrations
Series Twentieth-century Japan : the emergence of a world power ; 1
Twentieth-century Japan ; 1.
Contents Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- List of Tables, Graphs, and Maps -- Abbreviations -- Preface -- Introduction -- PART ONE. The Crowd and Labor in the Movement for Imperial Democracy, 1905-18 -- 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 -- PART TWO. Labor under Imperial Democratic Rule -- 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 -- PART THREE. The Collapse of 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
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
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Print version record
Subject Working class -- Political activity -- Japan -- History -- 20th century
Labor disputes -- Japan -- History -- 20th century
Labor movement -- Japan -- History -- 20th century
Riots -- Japan -- History -- 20th century
Political participation -- Japan -- History -- 20th century
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Process -- Political Advocacy.
HISTORY -- General.
Labor disputes
Labor movement
Political participation
Politics and government
Riots
Working class -- Political activity
SUBJECT Japan -- Politics and government -- 20th century. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85069551
Subject Japan
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780520913301
0520913302
0585110972
9780585110974