Japanese Workers in Protest: An Ethnography of Consciousness and Experience [Hardcover]

Christena L. Turner (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520085701 | ISBN-13: 978-0520085701 | Publication Date: May 29, 1995 | Edition: 1

This first ethnographic study of factory workers engaged in radical labor protest gives a voice to a segment of the Japanese population that has been previously marginalized. These blue-collar workers, involved in prolonged labor disputes, tell their own story as they struggle to make sense of their lives and their culture during a time of conflict and instability. What emerges is a sensitive portrait of how workers grapple with a slowed economy and the contradictions of Japanese industry in the late postwar era. The ways that they think and feel about accommodation, resistance, and protest raise essential questions about the transformation of labor practices and limits of worker cooperation and compliance.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fascinating analysis of the consciousness and experience of industrial workers in Japan. . . . I recommend it to anyone interested in understanding how ordinary Japanese people make sense of the often difficult circumstances of their lives with determination and humor, with hope, cynicism, and resignation."--Andrew Gordon, "Monumenta Nipponica

From the Inside Flap

"An elegant contribution to our understanding of Japanese society. . . . A model of clarity."--Robert J. Smith, Cornell University

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 281 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (May 29, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520085701
• ISBN-13: 978-0520085701
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,622,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must For Researchers, May 17, 2007

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Daniel L. Wheeler "lookabook" (Utah) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pittsylvania County (Virginia publick claims)

As Continental forces and Virginia militia units were engaged in winning independence, American quartermasters and provisioners struggled to provide these units with all the necessities of life, from meals and guns to meat, fodder for horses, the horses themselves, firewood, and every other type of material. Much of this was requisitioned from the civilian population and certificates were issued payable in either continental or state funds, depending on the units supplied, upon presentation to court authorities. Thousands of these certificates issued to Virginians were duly entered by the courts, and they provide a fascinating insight into the period of the Revolution. These "Publick" Claims booklets contain interesting and useful information about the contributions of ordinary people to the Revolutionary War. They provide some details of people's service in the militia or as guards for prisoners of war; they indicate where some bodies of troops were at particular times; and they identify providers of horses, wagons, cattle, grain, or other supplies. Much of the information in these booklets cannot be found anywhere else, which makes the surviving records particularly valuable. Also remarkable is the fact that records survived from virtually every county in the state at that time with the exception of the newly formed Kentucky counties. This makes the collection even more valuable in covering areas which heretofore in this time period have suffered from a lack of personal data. The "Virginia Publick Claims" are published by counties. In addition to a faithful transcription by Janice Luck Abercrombie and the late Richard Slatten, a complete index is provided for each county booklet. This series is an extremely important genealogical tool for searchers in Revolutionary-era materials.