Reconstructing Adult Masculinities: Part-time Work in Contemporary Japan

Emma E. Cook

Reconstructing Adult Masculinities: Part-time Work in Contemporary Japan
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Inc
Country
United States
Published
26 October 2017
Pages
207
ISBN
9780815375678

Reconstructing Adult Masculinities: Part-time Work in Contemporary Japan

Emma E. Cook

Over the past two decades, Japan’s socioeconomic environment has undergone considerable changes prompted by both a long recession and the relaxation of particular labour laws in the 1990s and 2000s. Within this context, freeters , part-time workers aged between fifteen and thirty-four who are not housewives or students, emerged into the public arena as a social problem.

This book, drawing on six years of ethnographic research, takes the lives of male freeters as a lens to examine contemporary ideas and experiences of adult masculinities. It queries how notions of adulthood and masculinity are interwoven and how these ideals are changing in the face of large-scale employment shifts. Highlighting the continuing importance of productivity and labour in understandings of masculinities, it argues that men experience and practice multiple masculinities which are often contradictory, sometimes limiting, and change as they age and in interaction with others, and with social structures, institutions, and expectations.

Providing a fascinating alternative to the stereotypical idea of the Japanese male as a salaryman, this book will be of huge interest to students and scholars of Japanese culture and society, social and cultural anthropology, gender and men’s studies.

This item is not currently in-stock. It can be ordered online and is expected to ship in approx 2 weeks

Our stock data is updated periodically, and availability may change throughout the day for in-demand items. Please call the relevant shop for the most current stock information. Prices are subject to change without notice.

Sign in or become a Readings Member to add this title to a wishlist.