Embodiment, citizenship and social policy in contemporary Japan

Bibliographic Data

ID23154019
AuthorsMackie (0000-0003-3390-6522, Curtin University, corresponding author), Vera Mackie
Year2002
Pages200-229
Publication date2002-11-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeCHAPTER
VenueFamily and Social Policy in Japan (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/cbo9780511806551.010
OpenAlexW2336646025
ISBN9780511806551
LanguageEN
Citations received25

The Japanese citizen, the male citizen, the heterosexual citizen, the white-collar citizen, the fertile citizen, the able-bodied citizen: perhaps these phrases seem tautological, too obvious even to mention. What if we were to look at the obverse of these obvious and tautological phrases? What of the alien citizen, the female citizen, the homosexual citizen, the lesbian citizen, the trans-sexual citizen, the prostitute citizen, the infertile citizen, the disabled citizen? Are these phrases also tautological, or rather oxymoronic and contradictory? To what extent are these diverse kinds of citizens thinkable in modern Japan? What can we learn about citizenship in modern Japan by attempting to think through the gaps between the obviousness of the first group of phrases and the strangeness of the second group? The difference between the pairs of phrases above rests on the concept of embodiment. In this chapter, I will focus on how our understanding of citizenship might be transformed if we were to focus on citizens as embodied individuals.

Citizenship · Embodied cognition · Epistemology · Good citizenship · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Gender Studies · Japanese History and Culture · Law

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