Prospects for Japan and the Koreas in 2022

Subject Prospects for Japan and the Koreas in 2022. Significance Japan begins 2022 under a recently elected prime minister who pledges a 'new capitalism'. South Korea will gain a new president and government mid-year. Kim Jong-un turns 38 in January and begins his second decade as North Korea's leader; he could reign for many more.

Kishida's 'new capitalism' revives old agenda

Significance The ruling party lost seats, but not as many as predicted and it retains a comfortable majority. This clears the way for Kishida to set about implementing his economic promise: a 'new capitalism' with a greater emphasis on redistribution. Impacts The first priority is tackling COVID-19 and measures directed toward preparing for a future pandemic based on lessons learned from this one. Kishida will maintain his predecessor's focus on digitising government and society, helping Japan catch up in this crucial area. Kishida will make economic security vis-a-vis China a new national priority, entrenching the bilateral rivalry. Endorsement (if not implementation) of a centre-left agenda makes it harder for opposition parties to differentiate themselves.

Unexpected action and insecurity: some structural characteristics of postmodernity

This essay presents an analysis of the structural and cultural characteristics of postmodern society’s new capitalism, underscoring the fact that uncertainty, flexibility, mobility and risk are the latest categories of contemporary life, with which we need to interact and communicate constantly. It is necessary to aim at governing uncertainty by activating a new logic of the diffused empowerment of people aimed at promoting value for all the stakeholders by sharing objectives, development plans and the joint redesign of technologies, structures and processes. This is a perspective which places the person at the centre of strategic action, relaunches a New Humanism, invests in the cultural dimension, enhances that of value with a view to surpassing theutilitarian and technocentric paradigm while asserting a new anthropocentric

Hackathons and the Spirit of the New Capitalism

This chapter dives deeply into the subculture of hackathons as a paradigmatic event of the new economy. Using ethnographic observations and interviews with participants at seven public hackathons sponsored by companies in New York, the account shows how the weekend-long competition to write computer code socializes highly skilled, young tech workers to produce “innovation” on demand. Corporate sponsors appeal to participants’ love of coding and “building things” as well as their desire to build their résumés, promising jobs, networking, and glory to winners who can produce marketable products and ideas. Participants willingly engage in both self-exploitation and self-promotion, aware that corporate sponsors have the upper hand but enjoying the sense of play, mutual learning, and collaboration-with-competition that hackathons foster. The combination of self-exploitation and self-promotion, amid both emotional and rational appeals, represents the culture of the new economy and sets a new, permeable boundary between personal life, workspace, and worktime.