This workshop brings together an international group of scholars to
discuss the comparative dimensions of CLASS AND INEQUALITY IN THE UK
AND JAPAN. It is the first in a series of events taking place in the
UK and Japan as part of an AHRC/ESRC networking grant designed to
build research relationships and collaborations between the UK, Japan
and beyond.
Since 2000 there has been a major revitalization of class analysis in
Sociology, much of which has been led by critical engagements with
Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological framework, notably the need to
incorporate a multidimensional framework and to recognize the
significance of the cultural and symbolic aspects of class alongside
the economic dimensions. Initiated in European sociology, notably by
scholars working in France, Scandinavia, and the UK, this perspective
has become increasingly global and comparative in nature. Major
questions have been raised about the extent to which this
revitalization of class analysis is Eurocentric, whether it adequately
conceptualizes the relationship between cultural, social and economic
drivers in an era of intensifying inequality, and its capacity to deal
with intersectional inequalities.
The workshop series is the first major contribution to reflect on
these issues through a focus on Japanese society and comparisons with
the UK. It will bring together leading scholars researching Japan and
the UK to reflect on the salience of class in both nations, and the
adequacy of current framings of class analysis to address them. This
workshop in Manchester will be followed by a seminar at Newcastle on
February 28th, and two seminars in Japan in April 2020.
PROGRAMME:
10.00-10.15: WELCOME AND PROJECT INTRODUCTION
10.15-11.15: INTRODUCTORY LECTURE
Mike Savage (London School of Economics), ‘Rethinking Class in an
era of Escalating Global Inequality’.
11.15-11.30: BREAK
11.30-13.00: ISSUES OF CULTURAL CAPITAL - CULTURE, CLASS AND
DISTINCTION
Shinichi Aizawa (Sophia University), ‘Social Class in Japan from the
view point of cultural capital’.
Andrew Miles (University of Manchester), ‘Everyday participation,
class and cultural policy in the UK’.
Comments: David Wright (University of Warwick)
13.00-13.45: LUNCH
13.45-15.15: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL CAPITAL -
WORK, EDUCATION AND CLASS
Mark Williams (Queen Mary University), ‘Occupational class
inequality at work in Britain’.
Takehiko Kariya (University of Oxford), ‘Post-catch-up modernity
and hidden inequality in Japanese education’.
Comment: Shinobu Majima (Gakushuin University)
15.15-15.30: BREAK
15.30-17.00: ISSUES OF SOCIAL IDENTITY AND CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS -
PERSPECTIVES AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN 'OBJECTIVE' AND
'SUBJECTIVE' CLASS IDENTITIES
Sarah Irwin (University of Leeds), ‘Subjective inequalities and
social structure: class, concepts and methods’.
Ayumi Takenaka (Ritsumeikan University), ‘The Hierarchy of
Japanese Identities: constructing nationhood through diasporas’.
Comment: Wendy Bottero (University Manchester)
17.00-17.30: CLOSING REMARKS
Alan Warde (University of Manchester), ‘Reflections on class,
culture and distinction’
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FUNDING
We acknowledge the generous support of the Arts and Humanities
Research Council (AHRC) and Economic and Social Research Council
(ESRC) for our activities under their joint ‘Japan-UK Connections’
scheme. Grant no. ES/S013776/1 'Culture, Class, Connection: Bridging
Debates on Contemporary Inequality in the UK and Japan' P.I. Niall
Cunningham, Newcastle University.
culture
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22/02/2020 Last update