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Paper short abstract

Japanese social movements were revived within the global movement against neoliberalism in the 2000s. The infrastructure was provided by activists from the 1970s-80s New Left Movements. This study examines why Japanese social movements revived on the theme of anti-poverty within a global context.

Paper long abstract

Although Japan is often described as having a low level of social activism, the anti-poverty movement gained momentum in 2008. The structural reasons lie in the economic stagnation known as Japan's “lost three decades”, while the neoliberal policies pursued since the Koizumi administration in 2001 created the political conditions conducive to the emergence of this movement. These factors alone do not fully explain the movement's revival. This study examines the anti-poverty movement within its historical context with past movements to clarify the reasons for its revival in the 2000s. Specifically, activists from Japan's new left movements since the 1970s-80s, who had been involved in labor movements for day laborers, began developing movements for the homeless people from the mid-1990s. By the early 2000s, these developed into movements against neoliberalism.

Even during the period said to have seen social movements stagnate, new left activists did not cease their activities. The expansion of less contentious movements, such as agricultural activism, also contributed to the movements becoming invisible. Some movements ceased to be contentious precisely because they became institutionalized. Yet these movements provided the infrastructure for the anti-poverty movements of the 2000s.

By clarifying the connection between the global anti-neoliberal movement and Japan's anti-poverty movement, we can understand why social movements stagnate at certain periods and become reactivated at others.