Abstract
Globalization, a significant trend in the contemporary era, is understood in this paper as possessing the tendency to bring about an erosion of the “peculiarities” or “uniqueness” of social relations in “national societies, ” and hence, as a consequence, bring with it the emergence of global “universalities” or “generalities.” The validity of this thesis is examined with regard to industrial relations.
First, by examining the criticisms directed at theories of globalization, the claim that Japan is undergoing globalization is clarified.
Next, the world-system theory is employed, firstly, as a theoretical explanation of the cause of globalization particularly in Japan, and secondly, as a theoretical perspective for understanding the circumstances surrounding the emergence of “universalities, ” which is understood as the pursuit of flexibility in industrial relations by employers.
Third, this paper suggests that the emergence of these “universalities” tends to transform the industrial relations in each “national society.” In a sense, there is a convergence of industrial relations as seen in the cases of the United States and Japan.
