Table Of ContentThe Making of Modern Japan
Studies in Critical Social Sciences
Series Editor
David Fasenfest
(Wayne State University)
volume 191
New Scholarship in
Political Economy
Series Editors
David Fasenfest
(Wayne State University)
Alfredo Saad- Filho
(King’s College London)
Editorial Board
Kevin B. Anderson (University of California, Santa Barbara)
Tom Brass (formerly of sps, University of Cambridge)
Raju Das (York University)
Ben Fine ((emeritus) soas University of London)
Jayati Ghosh (Jawaharlal Nehru University)
Elizabeth Hill (University of Sydney)
Dan Krier (Iowa State University)
Lauren Langman (Loyola University Chicago)
Valentine Moghadam (Northeastern University)
David N. Smith (University of Kansas)
Susanne Soederberg (Queen’s University)
Aylin Topal (Middle East Technical University)
Fiona Tregenna (University of Johannesburg)
Matt Vidal (Loughborough University London)
Michelle Williams (University of the Witwatersrand)
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Contents
A cknowledgements vii
L ist of Illustrations ix
1 I ntroduction 1
1 A nalytical Approach 3
2 O utline of the Argument 5
3 O utline of the Chapters 6
2 L ineages of Japanese Political Economy 14
1 C reative Conservatism and the Developmental State: Japan’s Post- war
Boom 14
2 I nstitutional Approaches to the Study of Japanese Politics 22
3 T he Long Decline: Theorizing Crisis in Heisei Japan 24
4 T he Welfare State and Social Reproduction in Post- war Japan 33
5 C onclusion 40
3 T owards a Gramscian Understanding of Japanese Political Economy 42
1 H istorical Materialist Methodology 43
2 H egemony 46
3 H egemony and Hegemonic Order 47
4 S ocial Reproduction 48
5 C onditions for Hegemonic Order 50
6 H istoric Bloc 52
7 E xplaining Change: Conjunctural and Organic 54
8 O rganic Crisis 55
9 W orld Order, Forms of State, Social Forces 56
10 R elations of Force 58
11 C aesarism, Passive Revolution and Trasformismo 59
12 C ounter- hegemony and the (Post- ) Modern Prince 61
13 P olitical Ecology 62
14 T owards a Gramscian Feminist Approach to the Japanese Post- war
Order 63
15 C onclusion 68
4 T he Post- war Hegemonic Order 70
1 T he Post- war Hegemonic Order 71
2 C onditions of Post- war Hegemonic Order 74
3 T he Post- war Japanese Historic Bloc 104
4 C onclusion 108
vi Contents
5 C ontradictions and Transitions of the Late Shōwa Era 109
1 S tructural Changes to World Order 110
2 S tructural Demographic Changes 115
3 P olitical Changes 118
4 I nstitutional Changes 124
5 I mplications of these Changes for Hegemonic Order 133
6 C onclusion 136
6 T he Organic Crisis of the Heisei Era 139
1 H istorical Background to the Crisis 140
2 C onditions of the Crisis 153
3 I mplications of the Crisis 171
4 C onclusion 173
7 C aesarism, Passive Revolution and the Return of the ldp under
Abe 176
1 A be’s Political Comeback 177
2 B reaking the Deadlock: The Caesarism of “Abenomics” 179
3 T he Real Abe? Passive Revolution, Militarism and Soft
Authoritarianism 186
4 C onsequences of Abe’s Reign for the Hegemonic Order? 193
5 C onclusion 199
8 W hither Post- Abe Japan? Four Scenarios for the Future 202
1 T he Neo- conservative Option 203
2 T he Neo- liberal Path 209
3 B ack to the Future: Neo- communitarianism? 215
4 C ounter- hegemony and a Democratic Socialist Future 221
5 C onclusion 229
9 C onclusion 231
1 C onditions for Hegemonic Order: Political Legitimation 231
2 C onditions for Hegemonic Order: Capital Accumulation 234
3 C onditions for Hegemonic Order: Social Reproduction 237
4 O verarching Theoretical Implications of the Argument 241
5 T owards a Gramscian Political Economy of Modern States 243
B ibliography 245
I ndex 261
Acknowledgements
Though I take full responsibility for any remaining errors or oversights in this
book, I could not have carried out this research or written this book without
the love, support and kindness of many people.
Stephen Gill has been an intellectual inspiration to me since my under-
graduate years, and it was in many ways a dream come true to have him as
my supervisor. Stephen provided immense support, not only in helping me
develop this project and fine-t une it as a dissertation in the final months, but
also through his apt advice and dutiful letter- writing, which enabled me to
win strong funding for every year of my doctoral studies. Without this support,
this project – which involved extensive fieldwork in Japan – would have been
impossible. Moreover, Stephen provided me with invaluable connections in
Japan that enabled me to live and work there as well as early opportunities to
publish elements of this research. I owe very much to Stephen.
Isa Bakker was also immensely supportive as my dissertation second
reader, while also providing a central inspiration for the theoretical approach
I developed (along with Stephen), as well as many crucial insights and points
of advice as I developed the project. I thank Isa as well for spearheading the
Capital & Class special issue, in which I was able to publish an article that came
out of this project. David McNally was also extremely helpful as a committee
member, posing challenging and compelling questions, which helped me clar-
ify many key issues that I likely would have never even thought about without
his critical insights.
I would also like to give a special thank you to Seiji Endo, Vice President
at Seikei University, who served as my field supervisor in Japan for two years.
In addition to helping me obtain a position as Visiting Scholar in Seikei
University’s Faculty of Law, Seiji provided me with immense support in devel-
oping the blueprint of my project, refining it (in response to some of his con-
cerns) and turning it into the finished copy. He also introduced me to various
key Japanese language (as well as English) texts and leading scholars in Japan,
all of which have helped strengthen the depth and scope of the analysis of this
book. His support with this project was of immeasurable significance.
Very special thanks are also due to David Fasenfest, who has been the most
helpful and kindest editor I ever could have hoped for. David’s patience, guid-
ance and support have been crucial in enabling me to bring this project to
fruition and helping me get over the final series of hurdles in converting this
manuscript from a doctoral dissertation into a full- fledged book. I am very
grateful to him for that.
viii Acknowledgements
I also want to thank a number of people from Japanese and Canadian aca-
demia, including Heidi Gottfried, Hideo Aoki, Shannon Bell, Derek Hall, Stefan
Kipfer, Naoaki Kobayashi, Tokuoh Konishi, Makoto Itoh, Yahilo Unno and
Nobuharu Yokokawa for their advice and insights as I developed this project.
Thanks are also due to a number of institutions, which provided various
forms of support, including both monetary and non- monetary. York University
gave me strong funding in my first year of doctoral studies while also supporting
my various external funding applications. The Social Science and Humanities
Research Council of Canada then provided extensive funding for the final four
years of my studies, without which it would have been impossible to conduct
fieldwork in Japan. Seikei University provided significant institutional support,
including office space and full access to their library. Many thanks are also due
to Ochanomizu University, where I have been employed as Assistant Professor
since April 2020. Despite the extenuating circumstances of the Covid- 19 global
pandemic, my institutional supports at Ochanomizu, as well as the quiet space
offered by my office, have been especially helpful in enabling me to concen-
trate on the final stages of revising this book.
Finally, I would also like to thank my family for their unwavering support
and love. As always, my parents Anne Preyde and Bill Carroll provided tremen-
dous emotional support, even in my moments of self- doubt, every step of the
way. Particular thanks are due to my father for all his insightful comments and
probing questions along the way and especially those that helped to bring this
book to fruition. My brother Wes Carroll also provided significant moral sup-
port, and there was nothing like listening to his music when I needed a break.
Most of all, however, I want to thank my wife Yasuka Kanoh and son
Tomohisa for truly being the sparkling diamonds in my life. When I started this
project, Yasuka and I had just met and Tomo had not yet entered this world. It
is hard to believe how far we have come as a family in these past three years,
just as this project has come to fruition. I could never have done any of it with-
out these two, and I dedicate this book to Yasuka and Tomo.
Illustrations
Figures
1 T he post- war Japanese historic bloc (left triangle) and the groups excluded
from it (right circle) 54
2 R esults of the 2012, 2014 and 2017 Lower House elections 198
3 A political compass of the four ideal type future scenarios of Japanese ruling
regimes 222
Table
1 T ypes of labour categories in Japan 163
