Journal Articles, Dissertations, Conference Papers, Book Reviews by Akira Suzuki
Some of my papers are available on the Web.
Journal Articles
"Sengo Nihon no Tekko Sangyo niokeru Kyochoteki Kigyoubetsu Rodokumiai no Seiritsu" [the development of cooperative enterprise unions in the Japanese steel industry in Postwar Japan- an analysis of the internal politics of the Steelworkers' unions] Leviathan (Winter 1998): 95-133. (in Japanese)
This paper analyzes the internal politics of Tekkororen (the Japan Federation of Steel Workers' Unions) and its member unions in major steel firms in the 1950s and 1960s. Building on theories of union democracy and the internal political process of unions, the paper argues that unions are not unitary actors, and examines how the internal politics of the unions, once active in the 1950s, became inactive in the 1960s and thereafter.
"Toward an Alternative Analytic Approach to the Internal Politics of Unions." The International Journal of Japanese Sociology No7. (November, 1998): 45-63.
This paper discusses theoretical issues in analyzing the internal politics of unions in Japan. The main argument is that the autonomy of unions' internal political processes from management should not be assumed and that the very development of internal politics of unions may be influenced by the actors with which the unions interact. The paper first reviews previous research on the internal politics of unions in Western countries and discusses a model of internal union politics based on these studies. Second, it reviews previous studies of enterprise unions in Japan and considers why these studies have been indifferent to the internal politics. Third, the paper proposes an alternative approach to internal union politics by synthesizing insights from previous studies of unions and union politics in Western countries and Japan. The approach is based on the concept of the "political space" of unions. Fourth, application of the alternative approach to the development of internal politics of the enterprise union of Yahata Steel (from 1970, Nippon Steel), the largest steel firm in Japan, shows how the union's political space has become more narrow over time. Finally, the paper concludes by noting the relevance of the proposed approach to studies of union-management relations in other industrialized countries.
"Kumiainai Seiji to Kumiai Rosen- Kokuro no jirei kenkyu wo tsuujita rironteki kosatsu," [Relations between Internal Union Politics and Union Policies: Theoretical Review and the Case Study of Japan National Railway Workers' Union] Rodo Shakaigaku Kenkyu [Journal of Labor Sociology] 1 (January 1999): 51-68.(in Japanese) HTML PDF
This paper argues that policy orientations of unions are shaped by political processes within unions and do not merely reflect their external economic and social contexts. It first reviews previous studies on union behaviors. While many previous studies explain union behaviors mainly in terms of unions' external political, social, and economic contexts, some recent studies have turned their attention to internal union politics in explaining union behaviors. Secondly, the paper derives four hypotheses on relations between union policies and the internal politics of unions from previous research and apply them to the case of the Japan National Railway Workers' Union (Kokuro). The four hypotheses concern two theoretical issues: union leaders' dilemma of policy choice, and relations between militant policy orientations and union democracy. The case study shows that leaders of Kokuro were in a dilemma of policy choice when union-management relations of JNR became tense, and that the union's militant policy orientations mainly reflected the opinion of shopfloor-level officials and activists, rather than rank and file members. In the third section, the paper examines the long-term effects of the internal politics of Kokuro on its policy orientations based on the concept of "the logic of organizational behavior." In Kokuro, a militant logic of organizational behavior, once formed in the early 1960s, was reproduced thereafter by lower-ranked union officials committed to shopfloor militancy and increasingly constrained the flexibility of union leaders in their policy choice. In the concluding section, the paper briefly considers theoretical implications of this study for general theories of political sociology. It suggests that studies on the internal union politics like this one attempt to show effects of politics on economic and social structures, rather than vise versa.
"'Union Politics' to Kyouchoteki Kigyobetsu Kumiai"['Union Politics' and Cooperative Enterprise Unions] (Research Notes)Kokkyo wo Koeru Rodo Shakai: Nihon Rodo Shakai Gakkai Nenpo [The World of Work Beyond National Boundaries: Annual Review of Labor Sociology] No.10 (October, 1999): 204-214 (in Japanese).
"Lean Seisan Hoshiki to Roshikankei, Rodokumiai: Gendaijidousha ni okeru jirei," [the introduction of lean production system and industrial relations and labor union] Nihongata Seisan Shisutemu no Kankoku eno Iten ni Kansuru Kyodo Kenkyu: Jidosha Sangyo o Chushin to shite(A Joint Research Project on the Transfer of Japanese-Style Production System to Korea: Mainly in the Automobile Industry), A report of Grant-In-Aid for Scientific Research, 2000: 100-120.
"The death of unions' associational life? Political and cultural aspects of enterprise unions," in Frank Schwartz, Susan Pharr, eds., The State of Civil Society in Japan. Cambridge University Press. (2003): 195-213.
"The Rise and Fall of Interunion Wage Coordination and Tripartite Dialogue in Japan." in Harry Charles Katz, Wonduck Lee, Joohee Lee, eds. The New Structure of Labor Relations: Tripartism and Decentralization Cornell University Press. (2004).
"Rodo Kumiai Saikasseika Senryaku no Kenkyu Sabei" [Literature Survey on Union Revitalization Strategies in the Context of Industrial Relations Institutions] Ohara Shakaimondai Kenkyujo Zasshi. (Journal of Ohara Institute for Social Research) No.548 (July 2004): 9-24.
"Nashonaru Senta no Soshikikakudai Seisaku no Rekishi" [A History of Organizing Strategies of National Centers] in Suzuki, Akira and Hayakawa Seiichiro (eds.) Rodokumiai no Soshiki Kakudai Senryaku [Organizing Strategies of Labor Unions] Ochanomizu Shobo, 2006.
"Sangyobetu Soshikino Soshiki Kakudai Senryaku,"[Organizing Strategies of Industry-level Union Federations: their institutional contexts and mediating factors]in Suzuki, Akira and Hayakawa Seiichiro (eds.) Rodokumiai no Soshiki Kakudai Senryaku [Organizing Strategies of Labor Unions] Ochanomizu Shobo, 2006.
"The History of Labor in Japan in the Twentieth Century: Cycles of Activism and Acceptance," in Lucassen, Jan (ed.), Global Labour History: A State of the Art. Bern: Peter Lang, 2006.
"Rodo Undo" [Labor Movement] in Hisamoto, Norio and Kingo Tamai (eds.) Shai Seisaku 1: Waku Lifu Baransu to Shai Seisaku, Horitsu Bunkasha, 2008.
“Community Unions in Japan: Similarities and Differences of Region-based Labour Movements between Japan and Other Industrialized Countries,” Economic and Industrial Democracy. (November, 2008) Vol.29 (4): 492-520.
"NIhon no Rodo Undo- Sai Kasseika no Kanosei to Rodoundo Shidosha no Gensetu Bunseki" [Labor Movement in Japan: an Examination of its Possible Revitalization based on the Discourse Analysis of Union Leaders] in Shinkawa, Toshimitu and Toru Shinoda, eds., Rodo to Fukushi Kokkano Knose: Rodoundo Saisei no Kokusai Hikaku. Minerva Shobo, 2009.
"Rengo Seisaku no Tenkaino Bunseki- Seiji, Keizai, Soshiki Mondai o Meguru Tairitsujiku no Shikakukara "[Analysis of Rengo's Policies: Focusing on Internal Conflicts Over Political, Economic, and Organizational Issues] In Ishida, Mitsuo and Hiroshi Gankoji ,eds., Koza Gendai no Shakai Seisaku Rodo Shijou, Roshi Kankei, Rodoho. Akashi Shoten, 2009.
"Shakai Undo Yunionizumu no Kanosei to Genkai-Keisei Yoin, Eikyo no Keizokusei, Seido tono Kankei ni Tuiteno Hihanteki Kosatsu"[Possibility and Limit of Social Movement Unionism: Critical Examination of Its Formation, Its Maintenance of Influence and Its Relations with Institutions. In Akira Suzuki, ed., Shin Jiyushugi to Rodo[Neo-liberalism and Labor], Ochanomizu Shobo, 2010.
"Genpatsu Suishinha, Hantaiha no Rodokumiai ha Nanio Shucho Shitanoka?" [What Kinds of Argumements did the Pro- and Anti-Nuclear Energy Union Make?]" Ohara Shakaimondai Kenkyujo Zasshi. (Journal of Ohara Institute for Social Research) No. 647/648, September and October 2012: pp.15-34.
"Introduction: Theoretical and Empirical Issues of Cross-national Comparisons of Social Movement Unionism," in Akira Suzuki (ed.) Cross-National Comparisons of Social Movement Unionism: Diversities of Labour Movement Revitalization in Japan, Korea and the United States. Peter Lang, 2012, pp.1-34.
"The Limits and Possibilities of Social Movement Unionism in Japan in the Context of Industrial Relations Institutions, " in Akira Suzuki (ed.) Cross-National Comparisons of Social Movement Unionism: Diversities of Labour Movement Revitalization in Japan, Korea and the United States. Peter Lang, 2012, pp.61-89.
"Union Politics in Hard Times: the Restructuring of 'Japanese-Style Employment Relations' and the Internal Politics of the Japanese Labor Movement in the 1990s." HTML File PDF File
A Paper Presented at ISA XIV World Congress of Sociology (RC 44: Session on Industrial Relations and Labour Politics in Asian Industrialization, July 31, 1998)
A Paper presented at the 1998 conference of the Japanese Association of Labor Sociology, and at the monthly research seminar at the Ohara Institute for Social Research.
A Paper Presented at 21st Annual North American Labor History Conference (Session: Radical Paradise on the Pacific: Labor Politics in 1950s Japan, October 22, 1999)
"The Decline of Associational Functions of Labor Unions in Postwar Japan,"
A Paper Presented at Conference on "Global Perspectives on Civil Society in Japan," East-West Center, Honolulu, 12-15 January 2000.
"80nen dai kohan iko no roshi kankei bunkei survey" [Literature survey on studies of industrial relations since the mid-1980s, with a special focus on those studies that positively evaluate "Japanese-style Industrial Relations"] (in Japanese)
Paper presented at the study group of contemporary industrial relations and labor unions
The Contemporary Japan Group, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, November 1, 2000.
"Rise and Decline of a Centralization Tendency of Japanese Industrial Relations: the development of wage determination and the tripartism from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s,"
Paper presented Conference on "the Changing Structure of Collective Bargaining: Is 'Coordinated Decentralization' the Answer?" October 5-7, School of Industrial & Labor Relations, Cornell University.
A Paper Presented at XVII ISA World Congress (July 11-17 2010, Gothenburg, Sweden)
(RC 44 Session 8:Rethinking social movement unionism from the periphery: Comparative dilemmas and prospects)
A paper presented at 2nd ISA Forum (July 31-Aug 3, 2012, Buenos Aires) RC44Trade unions in the green economy, Joint session with RC24 Environment and Society)
Book Review
Hisamoto, Norio, Kigyo nai Roshikankei to Jinzai Keisei (Intra-Enterprise Industrial Relations and Formation of Human Resources), The Journal of Ohara Institute for Social Research, No.485. (in Japanese) PDF file
Shinkawa, Toshimitsu, Sengo Nihonseiji to Shakai Minshushugi (Postwar Japanese Politics and Social Democracy), The Journal of Ohara Institute for Social Research, No.493. (in Japanese) PDF file
Kume, Ikuo Disparaged Success, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol.59, 3.
M.H.Gibbs Struggle and Purpose in Postwar Japanese UnionismThe Journal of Ohara Institute for Social Research, No.505. (in Japanese) PDF file