Description

South Korea and Japan had shared many similarities in labor law and employment practices and the two governments tried to introduce the same reform at the same time since the Asian financial crisis in 1997. However, the outcomes in employment policy reform were surprisingly different in Japan and Korea, which resulted in more benefits to unstable workers in Korea than in Japan.  This talk focuses on labor union strategies which influence the differences between Japan and Korea. Labor union strategies are crucial in the transition of labor relation and employment practices, because labor unions need to change the range of membership and the ways to protect their members. As the gig economy grows worldwide, a new form of labor such as uber drivers and food delivery riders who are not employees, but self-employed is spreading. This talk about labor union strategies can be helpful to understand how the gig economy is progressing.   

About the Speakers:
Juyoung An is a Visiting Professor with the Centre for the Study of Global Japan at the University of Toronto. He is also a professor of Policy Science at Ryukoku University in Japan. He has been studying employment policy changes in Korea and Japan and policy Processes of the two countries. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Law from Kyoto University, Japan and his B.A. from Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, South of Korea. His major book is Divergence of Company-based Employment Policies in Korea and Japan, Minerva Shobo (in Japanese), and he has co-authored several other books.  

Organized by the Centre for the Study of Global Japan and co-sponsored by the Centre for the Study of Korea, University of Toronto. Lunch will be served.

Description

Japan conducted a series of political reform to facilitate “maturity and openness” in its democracy by modernizing party politics and promoting smooth change in government (power shift). Based on an optimistic and simple assumption that the two-party system was ideal for the sake, single-seat districts were introduced in the Lower House. To make “clean” politics, the law of public subsidies to political parties was enacted, whereas political contributions to individual politicians were strictly controlled.   

Three decades have passed since then and what we witness today is completely different from what we originally expected. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the natural governing party in Japan, is more powerful and centralized than before. No active movements towards the unification of opposition parties have taken place for the last decade since the disastrous end of the Democratic Party government. The electorate no longer seem to expect opposition parties to unify themselves as a governing party.   

The one-party predominant (“one and a half” party) system in the era of the 1955 Regime has changed, but not towards the two-party system. It is upgraded to the “one strong and many weak” party system (Ikkyo Tajaku). The LDP is now “modernized”; that is, more organized and centralized to the extent that plurality within the party is hardly seen, not to mention that power shift is unlikely to take place in the foreseeable future.  

The gap between expectation and reality is not totally accidental. It can be explained, to a considerable extent, by the effects of political institutions. It is asserted that the reformed electoral system of the Lower House prevents a convergence to the two-party system. Public subsidies to political parties encourage the proliferation of minor parties. In addition, the electoral system of the Upper House has critical effects over party reshuffling, given symmetrical cameralism in Japan. My talk ends with the conclusion that the political reform in Japan have brought about stagnancy in politics and hollowing out of democracy, instead of revitalization in politics and maturation of democracy.   Lunch and Refreshments provided.

About our Speaker

Toshimitsu Shinkawa (Professor Hosei University, Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University)   

Moderator: Ito Peng (Director, Centre for Global Social Policy, Professor, Department of Sociology, Professor Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto)

Organized by the Centre for the Study of Global Japan. Co-sponsored by the Centre for Global Social Policy, University of Toronto.

Description

Information is not yet available.