Problems with Reproduction, Subjectivity and Reproduction

Abstract

    The purpose of this paper is to stimulate discussions on the economic geographies of reproduction, especially, the reproduction of population, which is a blind spot of academic enquiry that Japanese economic geographers share. Globally, recent interchanges between population geography and labor geography have raised economic geographer's interest in the sphere of reproduction. However, previous studies tend to take it for granted that the reproduction of labor across generations, which is a basis for the persistence of capitalism, persists. This precondition is obviously too optimistic.
    Reproduction of labor is neither secured nor executed by the hand of capital and the nation. This intrinsic difficulty of reproduction urged capital and the nation to subsume the process of reproduction into the developmental regime formed by the nexus between Fordism and the Keynesian Welfare State. Since the ending of the “Golden Age of Capitalism” made it difficult to sustain the regime, fertilities in many developed capitalist countries have been below the replacement level, which also elucidates the difficulty of reproduction.
    Under the banner of “Shoushika Taisaku” (Countermeasures to the low fertility rate), the Japanese government (and many other governments) has tried to eliminate barriers to raising children. Other than passive interventions, all that a liberal and democratic government can do is to encourage Japanese adults to have children in a non-authoritarian manner. However, the people's behavior goes against the hope of the government thus far.
    The target of the state's policies is its population; the government does not care about individual everyday lives. As a result, the government almost always deploys one-size-fits-all countermeasures to the low fertility rate issue, such as subsidizing families with children or giving incentives to establish childcare facilities. In the author's opinion, Japan's countermeasures to the low fertility rate are underpinned by economic and environmental determinism. Both attitudes presuppose that the purpose of policies is accomplished once specific conditions are satisfied, which is a counter-geographic idea. In reality, the level of fertility is determined by countless factors whose relationships are place specific. This is one reason why the government's endeavor to boost fertility rate has been futile.
    When the reproduction of labor cannot be achieved within the boundary of a state, the spatial scale of reproduction transcends it. Japan is one of the most reluctant countries when it comes to endowing citizenship for foreigners. Rather, the government designates foreign workers as labor that can be purchased on the spot. Labor geographers have described migrant workers agency or abilities to move elsewhere. Despite these inexpedient conditions, the number of foreigners who chose Japan as a country to work is increasing thus far. On condition that the government does not change its attitude to foreign workers, it is highly unsure that Japan can secure enough workforce to sustain its society and economy.
    The intrinsic problem with reproduction is rooted in the principle that the reproduction of human beings is based on subjective decisions of individuals. It generates aporia and doubt between individuals and the society that the pursuit of private profit does not always realize the optimum of the whole society. That said, individuals need not and should not discard the decision rights for marriage and childbirth and sacrifice themselves for the whole society.