Precarious Work in Japan

Old Forms, New Risks

Bibliographic Data

ID4776802
AuthorsH Gottfried (0000-0001-7699-3609, Wayne State University, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume44
Issue3
Pages464-478
Publication date2014-07-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Contemporary Asia (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-2336 • E-ISSN: 1752-7554
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00472336.2013.867523
OpenAlexW2095179701
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited20

This paper scrutinises the growing trends and tendencies toward nonstandard employment in Japan to understand the making of new risk profiles. Since the first signs of new risk profiles emerged prior to the bursting of the economic bubble, an analysis should not, as many have done, isolate the 1990s. Yet, few noticed that the growth of nonstandard employment had preceded the reversal of economic fortunes. Often, characterisation of the Japanese model extrapolated from relatively secure positions of one labour market segment in the highly regulated, coordinated governance institutions. For this reason, extant models have failed to anticipate growing risks in society as a whole. A review of employment regulation highlights the function of legal reforms in the making of new risk profiles. State-based regulations allowed for and codified unequal treatment of part-time and temporary work. As a result, nonstandard employment emerged as a distinct status with few of the benefits or the social protections associated with the corporate-centred, male-breadwinner reproductive bargain. By identifying the institutional logic of the corporate-centred male-breadwinner reproductive bargain, we can better understand the emergence of precariousness in the Japanese labour market.Key Words: Japangenderemploymentprecariouspolicy AcknowledgementI am indebted to several people who commented on earlier versions of this paper. A special thanks to Kevin Hewison, Arne Kalleberg, Karen Shire, David Fasenfest, Anne Allison, David Slater, and the participants in the Sawyer Seminar on Precarious Work in Asia at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Corporate governance · Economics · Extant taxon · Political science · State (computer science · Temporary work · Work (physics · Employment and Welfare Studies · Finance · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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