How has women’s employment changed during childbearing and childrearing? Have educational differentials in women’ s employment increased? These are important questions for understanding the changes in gender inequality and stratification among women as well as among households. We re-examined the trends in women’ s employment and their relations with education during the childbearing period, with a special focus on the labor market structural changes represented by the increase in the non-regular employment sector replacing the decrease in the self-employment sector. We use data that contains employment histories from two years before and six years after the first childbirth for women who gave birth to a child between 1970 and 2009, constructed from the Social Stratification and Mobility survey in Japan, 1985, 1995, 2005, and 2015. Comparing the 10-years childbirth cohorts, the following results were obtained: During these decades, the overall employment rate increased only slightly. The composition of employment has largely shifted. The employment rate in the self-employed sector had decreased in tandem with the increase in the employment rate in the non-regular employment sector, while the employment rate in the regular employment sector had not increased. The employment rate after childbirth had increased, but this was mostly due to an increase in non-regular employment. Regarding trends by educational group, junior college graduates’ employment rates increased significantly. In the most recent cohort, employment rates of vocational school, junior college, and university graduates were similar. Most of the increase among vocational school and junior college graduates was due to the rise in the rate of non-regular employment, whereas the increase among university graduates was moderate. In contrast, among high school graduates, the employment rate had not increased. The results suggest that educational differentials grew between high school graduates and those with a higher education.

In contemporary society, there is a possibility of meeting people with various values due to globalization and the diversification of values. At the same time, our society has an aspect of increased uncertainty that accompanies respect for freedom and diversity. Michel Foucault’s security mechanism effectively captures this kind of governance in contemporary society. However, studies that refer to the security mechanism overlook the perspective that it governs the governing object, the population, based on a value called the normal value. Therefore, this study analyzes Foucault’ s security mechanism to construct a new perspective on governance in contemporary society.

The results of the analysis are as follows: First, the security mechanism stimulates the market economy by opening up space and facilitating free circulation. Furthermore, the security mechanism do not attempt to prevent the occurrence of various hazards associated with the opening of space, in advance. Second, it considers humans as a species and governs the population, which refers to a group of humans, based on their normal values.

Furthermore, the security mechanism is closely related to the governance mechanism that Foucault calls liberal governmentality. By analyzing the security mechanism from this perspective, we have shown that they govern society through mechanisms such as discipline.

This paper clarifies that the security mechanism can be presented as a governance mechanism based on the uncertainty associated with freedom, and that it has the perspective of capturing a society where values are diversified and actively distributed.

This study empirically clarifies the potential and limitations of the “resignification” of pornography by asking, “Why is it（im）possible to remake adult videos （AVs, or pornographic films）targeting heterosexual men into porn for women by simply leaving out some parts?” One of the problems with anti-porn feminist theory is that if pornography inevitably leads to violence and exploitation of women by men, it will universalize the inequalities just as portrayed. Therefore, it is important to focus on the resignification of pornography to resist discrimination and oppression. However, it has also been pointed out that resignification may reinforce gender norms, rather than simply repeating them. Nevertheless, previous studies have overestimated resistive interpretation by individuals and have not sufficiently analyzed negotiated interpretations with the meaning induced on video sites that support viewing.

For the present analysis, we used data from interviews with the producer of “GIRL’S CH,” a Japanese adult video site for women, video reviews, and videos before and after editing. The editors and users of GIRL’S CH found alternative scenes that made them interpret AVs originally intended for men as intended for women. However, scenes that had been deemed oppressive toward women tended to be omitted without “resignifying” them as “for women.” Thus, this paper empirically reveals not only the validity of J. Butler’s anti-pornography critique but also its limitations by focusing on the media characteristics of AVs, which allow viewers to watch only some scenes of the work.

In long-distance caregiving, an adult geographically distant child（DC）appeals over the phone to a care manager（CM）to help realize a more desirable care service situation for their elderly parents. While doing the appeal, it is also necessary to respect the judgment of the care manager and accomplish both tasks in a way that increases the feasibility of the desired outcome. Using conversation analysis, this paper elucidates the methods used to carry out this practice, which is labeled “soliciting an offer by presenting desirability” with a silence after the subclause. The findings are as follows:

First, the DC makes an appeal by soliciting an offer in the form of presenting the desirability of a hypothetical care situation to the CM instead of directly issuing a request, thus providing the CM with increased deontic authority. If an offer is not produced, the presentation of desirability can be treated as a mere statement describing a desired situation and not as an attempt to solicit an offer. As a result, the DC can show deference to the CM’s judgment.

Second, DC utilizes the silence after the subclause to predict the likelihood of CM making an offer. If a simple agreement is produced instead of an offer, the sentential clause is completed by presenting desirability, affording the CM another opportunity to produce an offer.

Future sociological research on phone calls in long-distance caregiving will require an analysis rooted in the orientation of the participants in the calls to elucidate the “seen but unnoticed” way of solving problems, and a return of findings to the field.

In the early 1950s, the “konketsuji problem” was widely discussed as an unprecedented social problem after many children were born to Japanese women and foreign soldiers stationed in Japan. While previous studies have examined the “konketsuji problem” as a salient case of Japanese racism, it remains unclear how it was possible to understand racial discrimination against “konketsuji” as a problem in the historical context of post-war Japan. This study addresses this question by analyzing the historical use and context of the “konketsuji” concept.

The findings show that during and immediately after the occupation, the racial category “konketsuji” was strongly associated with the life-stage category “child” and that conceptual association invoked the institutional areas of child welfare and school education as the context of the “konketsuji problem.” At the same time, as the knowledge of their population, racial differences, and mothers’ occupations was invoked, a discussion on the integration and segregation of “konketsuji” in education developed. However, when this knowledge was reorganized through the activities of local organizations advocating the protection of children`s rights, the principle of “non-discrimination and equality” was adopted in various fields. Based on this principle, not only the provision of educational opportunities, but also the elimination of racial discrimination and prejudice were identified and pursued as educational and welfare goals. While the category “child” provided scarce resources to problematize racial discrimination against “konketsuji, ” it confined the anti-discrimination norm to the institutional framework of child welfare and school education.