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This seminar might be of interest to study group members... Best wishes Steve Begin forwarded message: From: Hal Parker <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Date: 4 August 2014 19:43:52 GMT+8 To: "[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Subject: Seminar on Youth Employment at Japan Foundation, London Dear Dr Roberts, My name is Hal Parker and I am writing on behalf of the Japan Foundation to inform you of a public seminar that may be of interest. The seminar, scheduled for 12 August and titled ‘Freeter the Japanese Precariat: Youth and Labour Disintegration in Japan’, looks at the tangled relations between patterns of work, representation and politics in Japan and will feature a talk by the renowned anthropologist Dr David Slater (Sophia University). Please see the e-flyer below for further details of the event. If you feel that this seminar might be of interest to your colleagues and students at Kent, please do feel free to circulate. We would be very grateful if you could help spread the word. Many thanks in advance and best wishes, Hal Parker _____________________ Hal Parker Programme Officer, Japanese Studies & Intellectual Exchange Japan Foundation London: Russell Square House, 10-12 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5EH T: 020 7436 6695 F: 020 7323 4888 W: http://www.jpf.org.uk/japanesestudies/ For the latest Japan Foundation events news, subscribe to our e-bulletin: www.jpf.org.uk/registration/index.php<http://www.jpf.org.uk/registration/index.php> [FB]<http://www.facebook.com/JapanFoundationLondon#!/JapanFoundationLondon>[TWITTER]<https://twitter.com/jpflondon> The Japan Foundation presents: [cid:image002.jpg@01CF9B70.A8E954A0] Public Seminar Freeter, the Japanese Precariat: Youth and Labour Disintegration in Japan Date: 12 August, 2014 6:30pm–8pm Venue: Japan Foundation, Russell Square House, 10-12 Russell Square, WC1B 5EH In the first of two special talks at the Japan Foundation, David H. Slater (Sophia University), drawing on 25 years of ethnographic research, will explore the tangled relations between patterns of work, representation and politics in Japan. Following the talk Dr Slater will be joined in discussion by Dr Helen Macnaughtan (SOAS). Abstract: The rise of "freeter" on the Japanese scene in the early 1990's is in part the result of a shift in labour patterns among youth, and particularly young men, that had been occurring since economic growth began slowing in the 1970's. The term initially held the false promise of labour mobility, a certain "freedom" from the constrictions of Japan Inc institutionalized work patterns and the possibility of personal self-realization in diverse social domains. This momentary distraction from the neoliberal fragmentation of social identity lasted for a short period of time, mostly spurred on by a corporatist mass media and opportunistic academics. Today the structural and policy patterns are familiar to late capitalist society around the world, but the cultural effects are somewhat more crushing. On the one hand, there is a desperate desire to return to the "suffocating embrace" of exploitative life-time employment in full-time work - work that is no long available after 25 years of labour degradation, and which seem to only accelerated with the rise of Abenomics. On the other hand, we also see glimpse of politicization, the rise of precariat-style mobilization here and there. Booking: To reserve your place, please email [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> with your full name and the title of the event you would like to attend. Further Information: http://www.jpf.org.uk/whatson.php#667