Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiro Saito
Keyword(s):  
Field Theory ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Japanese Government ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Pacific War ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Political Struggles

In essence, East Asia’s history problem resulted from a collision of nationalist commemorations in Japan as well as in South Korea and China. To understand how the history problem evolved, this chapter draws on field theory and proposes to analyze the history problem as a field inhabited by various political actors—governments, political parties, NGOs, and so on—competing for the legitimate commemoration of the Asia-Pacific War. The Japanese government is the most important actor in this field because it has the power to define Japan’s official commemoration, the focal point of political struggles. In addition, commemorative positions of the Japanese government and other relevant actors can be identified in terms of the spectrum ranging between nationalism and cosmopolitanism—the two logics of commemoration available in the institutional environment. These actors then try to influence Japan’s official commemoration by exploiting available mobilizing structures and political opportunities.

Radical Right Cross-National Links and International Cooperation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Caiani
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Macro Variables ◽  
Cross National

Like many other political actors, the radical right is currently expanding beyond national borders, creating cross-national links and establishing international cooperation. To date, however, in sociology and political science there are few empirical analyses on the topic. This chapter aims to fill this gap by providing an overview of some scholarship (coming from social movement studies, history, sociology, and research on political parties) on the contemporary radical right, looking first of all at the level of contextual macro variables—that is, at the political opportunities European integration provides for the transnationalization of the radical right. Second, it suggests that another important mechanism (at the meso organizational level) for the development of cross-national radical right links and cooperation is the use of frames. Third, it considers the potential role of the Internet for the transnationalization of the current radical right.

The Hamas Movement and its political and democratic practice, 1992–2016

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 561-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aqel Mohammed Ahmed Salah
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political System ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
The Political ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Democratic Practice ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Political Variables

The concept of a political opportunity structure contributes to the analysis of the behaviour of political actors and is one of the current central topics that has importance for political systems at the regional and international levels, as well as for political and social scientific research centres. This study falls within the range of studies on ideological movements and political parties, and the political variables that affect the political system and these movements which lead them to adapt their ideology, by changing their position – from one of rejection to one of acceptance – with regard to participation in parliamentary elections. To achieve their aim of getting into power, ideological movements and political parties can adapt to political changes, influence the structure of political opportunities and exploit ones available to them. This study focuses on the analysis of factors that led to the change in the position of Hamas with regard to democratic practice, from boycotting the first parliamentary elections in 1996 to actively participating in the 2006 elections. It discusses a number of factors: first, the internal organizational factors of the movement; second, the political variables in the Palestinian arena; and third, the internal factors related to the ruling party (Fatah). In light of this, the study principally aims at providing an objective view on the position of Hamas with regard to its political and democratic practice prior to its participation in the Palestinian political system and beyond, using the concept of political opportunities structure. Given that the movement was restricted by its ideology and governed by the political changes that had taken place in the Palestinian political system, it was forced to adapt to the new circumstances that followed the Oslo Treaty by changing its position from opposition and rejection to political participation.

Cross-National Fragmentation, 1945–1964

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiro Saito
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Diplomatic Relations ◽  
Pacific War ◽  
Self Defense ◽  
War Dead ◽  
The Government ◽  
Yasukuni Shrine ◽  
War Victims ◽  
Cross National

Between 1945 and 1964, the history problem did not yet exist because Japan had no diplomatic relations with South Korea and China. In the meantime, the Tokyo Trial prosecuted Japanese leaders for waging an aggressive war against the Allied Powers. But conservative politicians in power openly rejected the trial as invalid and instead justified the Asia-Pacific War as an act of self-defense and honored Japanese war dead at the Yasukuni Shrine. After the conservative LDP came to dominate the government in 1955, it promoted nationalism in Japan’s official commemoration. In contrast, the Japan Socialist Party and the Japan Communist Party actively commemorated Japan’s past wrongdoings against Korea and China. Moreover, A-bomb victims and affiliated NGOs began to adopt cosmopolitanism to commemorate all war victims irrespective of nationality. Since these political parties and NGOs were outnumbered by the LDP and its supporters, however, they did not influence Japan’s official commemoration.

scholarly journals Depictions of the Battle of Okinawa and its Social and Cultural Complexity using a transmedia approach: The Case of Gima Hiroshi (1923-2017)

2018 ◽  
pp. 57-84
Author(s):  
Eriko Tomizawa-Kay
Keyword(s):  
Focal Point ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Pacific War ◽  
Cultural Complexity ◽  
The Social ◽  
Woodblock Prints ◽  
Okinawa Prefecture ◽  
Battle Of Okinawa ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Post War

The battle of Okinawa of 1945 was one of the bloodiest battles of the Asia Pacific War, with nearly a quarter of the Okinawan population perishing. This paper examines paintings, woodblock prints and manga that depict this battle, and through analysis of these works I show how deeply they reflect significant issues relating to Okinawan history, culture, and society, notably the struggles of its citizens and Okinawa’s social and political complexities. This paper explores several artists’ visual descriptions of the brutal and catastrophic Battle of Okinawa, particularly in terms of how their works disseminated the artists’ views on the battle, as well as war in general, to an audience beyond Okinawa prefecture. Art that concentrates on the Battle of Okinawa, either as a focal point or a cultural influence, has been little studied so far, most probably because it has been treated as a sensitive and controversial issue, culturally and especially politically. Artists are grouped and discussed according to regional identities (Okinawa or non-Okinawa), generation (pre-war or post-war), and gender. I also analyse the complexities of the objectives and challenges of each artist who was trying to create works that exposed the social reality, though my main focus is on the woodblock print artist, Gima Hiroshi, who was an Okinawan diaspora artist with a more transmedia approach than 2 contemporary painters such as Maruki Toshi (1901-1995), Maruki Iri (1912- 2000), and war-theme (sensō) manga artist, Kyō Machiko (b. 1978).

Wining and Dining Government Officials: What Drives Political Networking in Chinese Private Ventures?

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 1084-1113
Author(s):  
Jianjun Zhang ◽  
Pei Sun ◽  
Kunyuan Qiao
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Resource Dependence ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Resource Dependence Theory ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Dyadic Relationship ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Government Relations ◽  
The Government

ABSTRACTManagerial networking with political actors has long been recognized as a crucial co-option strategy to navigate the challenging institutional environment in emerging economies. However, we know much less about what drives the variation of political networking investment by private ventures. Drawing on resource dependence theory, we unpack the dyadic business-government relations and identify the key organizational and environmental factors that shape the power dependence relationships between private ventures and the government. By examining power imbalance and mutual dependence in this dyadic relationship and considering both the necessity and the capability of political networking, we develop hypotheses regarding the ways in which size-, connection-, and location-based dependencies affect firms’ political networking intensity. These hypotheses are tested through a unique survey of Chinese private ventures. Our study finds that political networking intensity (1) has an inverted U-shaped relationship with firm size, (2) is negatively associated with the presence of embedded political ties while positively associated with that of achieved political connections, and (3) is smaller when the focal firm is located in business development zones. This research bears rich implications for our understanding of corporate political activity in emerging economies from a resource dependence lens.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document