Multiculturalism between ideology and practice
Immigrant self-narrations of community activism in Toyota, Japan
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6420504 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Scott Ma (0000-0002-1511-1972, Nagoya University, corresponding author), Mariana Alonso Ishihara (0000-0002-7633-0706, Nagoya University) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 88-109 |
| Publication date | 2023-06-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Contemporary Japan (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1869-2729 • E-ISSN: 1869-2737 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/18692729.2023.2220467 |
| OpenAlex | W4379384118 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 36 |
From 1990, a revised immigration law offered foreigners of Japanese descent (nikkei) the right to work for unlimited duration in Japan. Many nikkei came from Latin America to take on blue-collar jobs in the country’s factories. Homi Danchi, a working-class housing complex in Toyota, Japan, has since become known for its Brazilian immigrant community. Drawing on in- depth interviews, this study analyzes the self-narrated biographies of three Brazilian immigrants who actively participate in community activism in Homi. Applying Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice and his critique of the "biographical illusion," this article examines how the abstract ideology of Japanese-style multiculturalism (tabunka kyōsei) is understood and practiced at a local level. It argues that our narrators’ practical desires to recreate multicultural community in Homi reapply abstract multicultural values to a local context, thereby implicitly acknowledging multiculturalism’s symbolic capital and limiting the extent of activism to Homi. Applying the symbolic capital of multiculturalism to everyday practice, in turn, makes activism meaningful and imagines a community of fellow actors, albeit to the exclusion of outsiders. Multiculturalism thereby becomes a question not primarily of coexistence, but of community-building. We also underline the role that narration of one’s own history plays in mediating between individual experience and community belonging, contributing to methodological debates about Bourdieu’s biographical method
Context (archaeology · Ideology · Immigration · Literature · Media studies · Multiculturalism · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Gender Studies · History · Law · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Social and Cultural Dynamics
Diaspora and Identity
The Biographical Illusion (1986)
Immigrant Japan
Outline of a Theory of Practice
Consumption
Strangers in the Ethnic Homeland
Intimate Encounters
No One Home
Multiculturalism in a “homogeneous” society from the perspectives of an intercultural event in Japan
The Logic of Practice
Creating the 'Multicultural Coexistence' Society
Sociological biography and socialisation process
Tabunka Kyōsei without immigration policy
From Slaves to Agents
Distinction. A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste
Japonês
Probably Impossible
Support of Multiculturalism, But For Whom? Effects of Ethno-National Identity on the Endorsement of Multiculturalism in Japan
The paradox of diaspora engagement
Under the Multicultural Flag
Mixed' Japanese-Filipino identities under Japanese multiculturalism
Bourdieu and Critical Autoethnography
Storying Bourdieu
Bourdieu's Reflexive Politics
Bourdieu and Sociological Biography
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |