scholarly journals Otsukaresamadeshita!: A Critical Analysis of Japan's Toxic Work Culture

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-47
Author(s):  
Yusy Widarahhesty

Japan is known for its excessive work culture and dedication to work, which led the world to view the country as a ‘workaholic’. The ‘white collar heroes’ or locally known as the ‘salary man’ have been credited with boosting the Japanese economy, at the expense of their own lives. Approximately 1,949 work-related deaths and suicide attempts were recorded in 2019, all due to overwork. This paper analyses the Japanese work culture from the biopolitical power relations and discourse theory using an ethnography approach and participant observation methodology.

Crisis ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudath Samaraweera ◽  
Athula Sumathipala ◽  
Sisira Siribaddana ◽  
S. Sivayogan ◽  
Dinesh Bhugra

Background: Suicidal ideation can often lead to suicide attempts and completed suicide. Studies have shown that Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of suicide in the world but so far no studies have looked at prevalence of suicidal ideation in a general population in Sri Lanka. Aims: We wanted to determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation by randomly selecting six Divisional Secretariats (Dss) out of 17 in one district. This district is known to have higher than national average rates of suicide. Methods: 808 participants were interviewed using Sinhala versions of GHQ-30 and Beck’s Scale for Suicidal Ideation. Of these, 387 (48%) were males, and 421 (52%) were female. Results: On Beck’s Scale for Suicidal Ideation, 29 individuals (4%) had active suicidal ideation and 23 (3%) had passive suicidal ideation. The active suicidal ideators were young, physically ill and had higher levels of helplessness and hopelessness. Conclusions: The prevalence of suicidal ideation in Sri Lanka is lower than reported from the West and yet suicide rates are higher. Further work must explore cultural and religious factors.


Author(s):  
Geoffrey Karimi Njogu

The article sets out to unveil the challenge of drugs in Njega and Kamuiru secondary schools of Kenya. With drug challenge becoming the single major threat to the entire education system in tropical Africa, the sampling of the two schools will help in opening up the matter for decisive action by the relevant stakeholders. Methodologically, the article begins by theorizing the issues regarding drug menace as it wonders: Why do teens engage in this vice? What are the practical effects of drug abuse? And more importantly, what can we do to arrest the challenge? Even though the article has not given the final solution on how it can comprehensively be tackled, it has however opened up possibilities that can lead to the final onslaught. The materials in this article are gathered via oral interviews, some selected readings, participant observation especially through visiting the specific sites, and through critical analysis.


Author(s):  
Michael Goodhart

Chapter 3 engages with realist political theory throughcritical dialogues with leading realist theorists. It argues that realist political theories are much more susceptible to conservatism, distortion, and idealization than their proponents typically acknowledge. Realism is often not very realistic either in its descriptions of the world or in its political analysis. While realism enables the critical analysis of political norms (the analysis of power and unmasking of ideology), it cannot support substantive normative critique of existing social relations or enable prescriptive theorizing. These two types of critique must be integrated into a single theoretical framework to facilitate emancipatory social transformation.


The Oxford Handbook of Musical Repatriation is an edited volume comprising thirty-eight chapters from contributors working in regions all over the world. This collection highlights studies exploring sonic repatriation in its broadest sense in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. “Sonic” or “musical” repatriation refers primarily to the return of audiovisual archival materials to the communities from which they were initially recorded or collected. Repatriation is overtly guided by an ethical mandate to “return,” providing reconnection and Indigenous control and access to cultural materials—but as the chapters in this collection reveal, there are more dimensions to repatriation than can be described by simply “giving back” or returning archives to their “homelands.” The volume provides a dynamic and densely layered collection of stories and critical questions for anyone engaged or interested in archival work and repatriation projects. Its chapters constitute a body of thoughtful explorations that demonstrate through contemporary examples how negotiating ownership of and access to sonic heritage crosscuts issues involving (and challenges assumptions regarding) memory, identity, history, power, agency, research, scholarship, preservation, performance, distribution, legitimacy, commodification, curation, decoloniality, and sustainability. These examples set a precedent for musical repatriation, while also problematizing the historically transactional nature of returning archives. The Handbook explores these interdisciplinary streams and provides a dynamic space for critical analysis of archives and musical repatriation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 528-540
Author(s):  
Euclides Nenga Manuel Sacomboio

The global community is racing to slow down and eventually stop the spread of COVID-19, which is a pandemic that has killed thousands of lives and made tens of thousands sick. The new coronavirus has already reached Angola, with 25 confirmed cases, among them 2 died and 6 were cured. The government has decreed a state of emergency on 24 March 2020 for 15 days, which was extended twice for the same number of days that will make it possible to reduce clusters of people and keep them at home. This study reflected on the diverse ways of leadership. It is an article of theoretical, technical and scientific reflection, based on the experience of a new epidemiological situation, with a critical analysis based on technical, scientific and professional experience, with bibliographic input of data obtained from information published in scientific articles, newspapers, magazines and other official documents published in Angola and worldwide related to COVID-19. This article emerged from critical thinking based on the current situation of COVID-19 in Angola in the world and is reflected in this article, what Angola should learn and learned from the experience of other countries that also imported the disease, their history of investment in health, characteristics of their populations, their economies and other aspects.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Mannevuo ◽  
Jenni M Rinne ◽  
Isak Vento

AbstractPoliticians’ work pressure is gaining more attention in parliamentary studies. To participate in the discussion about governing under pressure, this article offers an interdisciplinary approach to investigate how representatives navigate within a flexible, limitless work culture. This article presents a new inquiry to re-examine contemporary political agency by combining cultural studies theories with empirical insights in Nordic countries. By analysing 52 semi-structured interviews with MPs in Denmark, Finland and Sweden, the study finds that politics attracts people who want to change the world, but these attributes may initiate a vicious cycle, taking the form of psychological strain.


2020 ◽  
Vol 102 (102) ◽  
pp. 78-91
Author(s):  
Gilbert B. Rodman

Forty years ago, in his seminal essay, 'The Whites of Their Eyes', Stuart Hall admonished the left for its – our – collective failure in figuring out how to fight back against racism effectively. Sadly, his criticism is no less valid today than it was then, and we still have a lot to learn about how to defeat racism once and for all. We've known for more than a century that this thing we call 'race' isn't a scientifically valid phenomenon – and yet it continues to function perfectly well in the world as if it is one anyway. As Hall noted in a 2011 interview, the mere act of unmasking essentialisms and deconstructing binaries doesn't stop them from 'roaring away' in the world, completely undisturbed by our analytic prowess. This essay takes stock of the current state of anti-racist struggles (at least in the US) and offers a critical analysis of how and why our current efforts to combat racism continue to be so ineffective.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 83-86
Author(s):  
Sabina Əzim qızı Əzimova ◽  

One of the most common forms of child exploitation in the world is early marriage. Although the number of underage marriages has declined to some extent, it continues to rise in a number of countries. Early marriage usually means the marriage of a child under the age of 18. Many of these marriages are also referred to as "child and forced marriages" because they are performed without conscious consent. Early marriage separates children from their families and peers, exposes them to domestic violence, and jeopardizes their development, educational, social and professional opportunities. Such marriages can also lead to psychological problems such as depression, adaptation disorders, post-traumatic stress, and suicide attempts. This review article aims to assess the causes and psychosocial consequences of early marriage. Key words: Family age, child exploitation, psychosocial aspects


2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimo Garbuio ◽  
Nidthida Lin

The future of health care may change dramatically as entrepreneurs offer solutions that change how we prevent, diagnose, and cure health conditions, using artificial intelligence (AI). This article provides a timely and critical analysis of AI-driven health care startups and identifies emerging business model archetypes that entrepreneurs from around the world are using to bring AI solutions to the marketplace. It identifies areas of value creation for the application of AI in health care and proposes an approach to designing business models for AI health care startups.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Romano Benini

The months of a gradual exit from the pandemic show some significant data and phenomena regarding the phenomenon of accidents at work and occupational diseases. The Italian figure highlights a recovery in injuries and illnesses, but also in the impact of new risk factors deriving from the digitalization of work, which grew with smart working during the pandemic. At the same time, the new organizational models highlight the increased risk of work-related stress diseases. The Italian situation makes clear the need to intervene on the issue of organizational well-being and welfare, to limit the negative impact of risk factors associated with this economic system on society and the health system through a new work culture.


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