Laura Dales
Biographic Data
| ID | 153760 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Laura Dales |
| GIVEN NAMES | Laura |
| FAMILY NAME | Dales |
| SIGNATURE | DALES L |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Western Australia |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3082-7968 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 35 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 15 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
(Not) alone
Doing Intimacy in Pandemic Times
Singles—here understood as unmarried or never married individuals—are a growing subset of the Japanese population that has not received discrete attention in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This article addresses the ways in which the pandemic and its associated interventions—calls for social distancing, self-restraint, or the avoidance of the ‘3Cs’—affect singles’ (non)familial personal relationships and practices of intimacy (platonic and…
Surveying singles in Japan
In this paper, we introduce a project on singles’ intimate practices conducted during COVID times as a case study of quantitative social research with a particular focus on qualitative reflections. We thematize the topic of self-reflexivity, which is considered an essential category in qualitative research but largely neglected in quantitative research. We discuss three methodological issues through the lens of self-reflection: ‘translation issue…
Contestations Over Gender in Asia
Part I: Everyday Agency of Women in Asia 1. Introduction: The Everyday Agency of Women in Asia Lyn Parker and Laura Dales 2. Northern Girls: Cultural Politics of Agency and South China's Migrant Literature Wanning Sun 3. Left-behind and Vulnerable? Conceptualising Development and Older Women's Agency in Rural China Tamara Jacka 4. Problematic Conjugations: Women's Agency, Marriage and Domestic Violence in Indonesia Siti Aisyah and Lyn Parker 5. O…
Choosing love? Tensions and transformations of modern marriage in Married at First Sight
Anthropologists and sociologists frequently suggest that marriage is undergoing rapid, worldwide transformation. Yet, while trends in nuptiality and divorce are used to demonstrate its decline, heterosexual marriage based on romantic love remains a cultural ideal in many contexts. This tension is reflected in cultural products like television programmes, including the increasingly popular genre of reality romance television. In this paper, we foc…
Language in fieldwork
This paper analyses the impact of the researcher's linguistic fluency or competence (or lack thereof) on the data collection process during fieldwork and subsequent analysis. We focus on researcher interaction with the field in a largely monolingual setting in Japan, and the multilingual setting of an international school in Indonesia. Researcher positionality during fieldwork shifts with their (perceived) linguistic fluency, which in turn affect…
Online Konkatsu and the Gendered Ideals of Marriage in Contemporary Japan
In Japan the average age of first marriage continues to rise steadily, and people are spending a greater proportion of their adult life single. This is despite the fact that the vast majority of singles express desire to marry one day. The reasons for the rise in late and non-marriage are varied and complex, but difficulty in finding an appropriate or compatible partner has emerged as one of the key issues. Against this backdrop, the konkatsu (‘m…
Precarious Japan
The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, Book Review "Precarious Japan"
Configurations of Family in Contemporary Japan
The middle-class nuclear model has long dominated discourses on in Japan. Yet there have always been multiple configurations of and kinship, which, in the context of significant socio-economic and demographic shifts since the 1990s, have become increasingly visible in public discourse. This book explores the meanings and practices of family in Japan, and brings together research by scholars of literature, gender studies, media and cultural studie…
Alisa Freedman, Laura Miller and Christine R. Yano, Modern Girls on the Go
‘Modern women had to define themselves in new ways’, observes the late Yoko McClain, in the autobiographical essay that concludes Freedman, Miller and Yano’s edited volume (213). These words captur
Ohitorisama , Singlehood and Agency in Japan
Postwar Japanese society has experienced significant demographic shifts. Of particular note are trends in marriage delay, increased divorce, increased rates of lifelong singlehood and an increased proportion of life spent unmarried. In this context, singlehood is increasingly experienced by women, for at least some period in their adult lives. Nonetheless, while greater numbers of Japanese are living as singles for a greater portion of their live…
Introduction
This issue of Asian Studies Review includes a themed section that addresses agency in relation to women’s everyday lives and experiences in Asia. Four papers follow this Introduction: Siti Aisyah a
Configurations of Family in Contemporary Japan
Marriage in Contemporary Japan
Two Decades of Gender and Difference
Scholarly work is a kind of bridge between the past and the future. Examining where we have come from, both theoretically and materially, inevitably leads us to reflect on where we are headed, and
Feminist Movements in Contemporary Japan
In contemporary Japan there is much ambivalence about women’s roles, and the term "feminism" is not widely recognised or considered relevant. Nonetheless, as this book shows, there is a flourishing feminist movement in contemporary Japan. The book investigates the features and effects of feminism in contemporary Japan, in non-government (NGO) women’s groups, government-run women’s centres and the individual activities of feminists Haruka Yoko and…
Minority Women will Change the World!’
Ohitorisama , Singlehood and Agency in Japan
Postwar Japanese society has experienced significant demographic shifts. Of particular note are trends in marriage delay, increased divorce, increased rates of lifelong singlehood and an increased proportion of life spent unmarried. In this context, singlehood is increasingly experienced by women, for at least some period in their adult lives. Nonetheless, while greater numbers of Japanese are living as singles for a greater portion of their live…
Online Konkatsu and the Gendered Ideals of Marriage in Contemporary Japan
In Japan the average age of first marriage continues to rise steadily, and people are spending a greater proportion of their adult life single. This is despite the fact that the vast majority of singles express desire to marry one day. The reasons for the rise in late and non-marriage are varied and complex, but difficulty in finding an appropriate or compatible partner has emerged as one of the key issues. Against this backdrop, the konkatsu (‘m…
Introduction
This issue of Asian Studies Review includes a themed section that addresses agency in relation to women’s everyday lives and experiences in Asia. Four papers follow this Introduction: Siti Aisyah a
Feminist Movements in Contemporary Japan
In contemporary Japan there is much ambivalence about women’s roles, and the term "feminism" is not widely recognised or considered relevant. Nonetheless, as this book shows, there is a flourishing feminist movement in contemporary Japan. The book investigates the features and effects of feminism in contemporary Japan, in non-government (NGO) women’s groups, government-run women’s centres and the individual activities of feminists Haruka Yoko and…
Choosing love? Tensions and transformations of modern marriage in Married at First Sight
Anthropologists and sociologists frequently suggest that marriage is undergoing rapid, worldwide transformation. Yet, while trends in nuptiality and divorce are used to demonstrate its decline, heterosexual marriage based on romantic love remains a cultural ideal in many contexts. This tension is reflected in cultural products like television programmes, including the increasingly popular genre of reality romance television. In this paper, we foc…
Surveying singles in Japan
In this paper, we introduce a project on singles’ intimate practices conducted during COVID times as a case study of quantitative social research with a particular focus on qualitative reflections. We thematize the topic of self-reflexivity, which is considered an essential category in qualitative research but largely neglected in quantitative research. We discuss three methodological issues through the lens of self-reflection: ‘translation issue…
Marriage in Contemporary Japan
Minority Women will Change the World!’
Minority Women will Change the World!’
Feminist Movements in Contemporary Japan
In contemporary Japan there is much ambivalence about women’s roles, and the term "feminism" is not widely recognised or considered relevant. Nonetheless, as this book shows, there is a flourishing feminist movement in contemporary Japan. The book investigates the features and effects of feminism in contemporary Japan, in non-government (NGO) women’s groups, government-run women’s centres and the individual activities of feminists Haruka Yoko and…
Two Decades of Gender and Difference
Scholarly work is a kind of bridge between the past and the future. Examining where we have come from, both theoretically and materially, inevitably leads us to reflect on where we are headed, and
Marriage in Contemporary Japan
Configurations of Family in Contemporary Japan
The middle-class nuclear model has long dominated discourses on in Japan. Yet there have always been multiple configurations of and kinship, which, in the context of significant socio-economic and demographic shifts since the 1990s, have become increasingly visible in public discourse. This book explores the meanings and practices of family in Japan, and brings together research by scholars of literature, gender studies, media and cultural studie…
Alisa Freedman, Laura Miller and Christine R. Yano, Modern Girls on the Go
‘Modern women had to define themselves in new ways’, observes the late Yoko McClain, in the autobiographical essay that concludes Freedman, Miller and Yano’s edited volume (213). These words captur
Ohitorisama , Singlehood and Agency in Japan
Postwar Japanese society has experienced significant demographic shifts. Of particular note are trends in marriage delay, increased divorce, increased rates of lifelong singlehood and an increased proportion of life spent unmarried. In this context, singlehood is increasingly experienced by women, for at least some period in their adult lives. Nonetheless, while greater numbers of Japanese are living as singles for a greater portion of their live…
Introduction
This issue of Asian Studies Review includes a themed section that addresses agency in relation to women’s everyday lives and experiences in Asia. Four papers follow this Introduction: Siti Aisyah a
Configurations of Family in Contemporary Japan
Precarious Japan
The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, Book Review "Precarious Japan"
Language in fieldwork
This paper analyses the impact of the researcher's linguistic fluency or competence (or lack thereof) on the data collection process during fieldwork and subsequent analysis. We focus on researcher interaction with the field in a largely monolingual setting in Japan, and the multilingual setting of an international school in Indonesia. Researcher positionality during fieldwork shifts with their (perceived) linguistic fluency, which in turn affect…
Online Konkatsu and the Gendered Ideals of Marriage in Contemporary Japan
In Japan the average age of first marriage continues to rise steadily, and people are spending a greater proportion of their adult life single. This is despite the fact that the vast majority of singles express desire to marry one day. The reasons for the rise in late and non-marriage are varied and complex, but difficulty in finding an appropriate or compatible partner has emerged as one of the key issues. Against this backdrop, the konkatsu (‘m…
Contestations Over Gender in Asia
Part I: Everyday Agency of Women in Asia 1. Introduction: The Everyday Agency of Women in Asia Lyn Parker and Laura Dales 2. Northern Girls: Cultural Politics of Agency and South China's Migrant Literature Wanning Sun 3. Left-behind and Vulnerable? Conceptualising Development and Older Women's Agency in Rural China Tamara Jacka 4. Problematic Conjugations: Women's Agency, Marriage and Domestic Violence in Indonesia Siti Aisyah and Lyn Parker 5. O…
Choosing love? Tensions and transformations of modern marriage in Married at First Sight
Anthropologists and sociologists frequently suggest that marriage is undergoing rapid, worldwide transformation. Yet, while trends in nuptiality and divorce are used to demonstrate its decline, heterosexual marriage based on romantic love remains a cultural ideal in many contexts. This tension is reflected in cultural products like television programmes, including the increasingly popular genre of reality romance television. In this paper, we foc…
Surveying singles in Japan
In this paper, we introduce a project on singles’ intimate practices conducted during COVID times as a case study of quantitative social research with a particular focus on qualitative reflections. We thematize the topic of self-reflexivity, which is considered an essential category in qualitative research but largely neglected in quantitative research. We discuss three methodological issues through the lens of self-reflection: ‘translation issue…
Doing Intimacy in Pandemic Times
Singles—here understood as unmarried or never married individuals—are a growing subset of the Japanese population that has not received discrete attention in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This article addresses the ways in which the pandemic and its associated interventions—calls for social distancing, self-restraint, or the avoidance of the ‘3Cs’—affect singles’ (non)familial personal relationships and practices of intimacy (platonic and…
(Not) alone
Sociology (13 works) · Gender Studies (8 works) · Gender Studies (8 works) · Political science (8 works) · History (7 works) · History (7 works) · Geography (6 works) · Japanese History and Culture (6 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Asian Culture and Media Studies (5 works)