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From ‘Entering into a Firm’ to ‘Entering into a Profession’: An Anthropological Approach to Changing Personhood in Japan
Author(s) -
Fu Huiyan
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
british journal of industrial relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.665
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-8543
pISSN - 0007-1080
DOI - 10.1111/bjir.12147
Subject(s) - personhood , disadvantaged , ethnography , sociology , phenomenon , power (physics) , social phenomenon , gender studies , epistemology , social science , political science , anthropology , law , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics
Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, the article uses discourse analysis to examine the social dynamics involved in the construction of personhood in Japan. While the gap between powerful discourse and lived reality is a well‐documented phenomenon, there is little systematic empirical research on how to integrate individual and social levels of analysis in this process. By contrasting discourse from above and from below, the article illuminates power asymmetry and the resulting tension between discursive freedom and social exclusion among disadvantaged groups.