The Struggle over “Life” in the Period of Low Economic Growth in Japan
1997 Volume 1997 Issue 10 Pages 85-96
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1997 Volume 1997 Issue 10 Pages 85-96
In the period of high economic growth in Japan, the word ‘seikstu life no shistu quality’ was accepted as associated with ‘seikastu-ken the right of (social) life, ’ which has been one of the keywords of many new social movements. In this paper, through specifying the usage of ‘quality of life’ in the govenment papers concerning welfare policies in the 1970s, I show that the keyword has lost its accent connoting the right (of life) and has been redifined in favour of the private sector. Then, I discuss that the very term ‘life’ itself has been contested between the neo-conservative side and the new social movements side because of its importance for constructing social identities.
