One Aspect of Research Topics on the Sociology of Work in Postwar Japan: An Analysis of Textbooks

Abstract

Through the analysis of textbooks, this paper reveals the structure of research topics on the sociology of work in postwar Japan. The analysis revealed the following points. (1) The number of textbooks in the sociology of work has decreased compared to sociology textbooks in other fields. (2) Until 1970, the structure of topics was centered on organizational theory; since the 1990s, this structure has become fragmented. These findings correlate the view of previous studies that the sociology of work in Japan has stagnated. In addition, this demonstrates the need for a “sociology of the sociology of work.”