Undergraduate Course: The Development of Social and Political Thought in Modern Japan (ASST10119)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Asian Studies |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This course offers an overview of political and social thought in Japan from the mid-19th century to the present through the investigation of major controversies and intellectual tendencies in the Japanese discourse on political $ú domestic as well as international $ú and social order. The progression of the course is along the historical timeline, but ample attention will be paid to continuities that connect prewar, postwar and the present times, as well as the fault lines that make the phases of progression unique. Where opportune, comparison will be made with similar developments and linkages that embed Japan in a transcultural context of social and political thought at the time. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Students who have completed this course successfully will have:
&· Acquired an overview of the major developments of political and social thought in modern Japan since the mid-nineteenth century until the presence.
&· Developed an understanding of the principal actors and participants in this discourse and the institutional conditions and limitations of public discourse in modern Japan.
&· Become familiar with fundamental motifs in the political and social discourse of prewar, postwar and present Japan
&· Gained insight into the embeddedness of this discourse in intercultural and world historical
Students who have completed this course successfully will be able to:
&· Discuss continuing motifs and major changes in the Japanese political and social discourse
&· critically assess sources and documents related to this discourse, in its present-day manifestation as well as in its historical dimension.
&· Present detailed, evidenced based arguments both in oral and written form
&· Quickly locate, utilize and critique relevant literature
&· Use knowledge acquired from the course to appraise news media and popular discourses on Japanese society and politics
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Assessment Information
| Student performance will be assessed by one 3,500-word essay (40 per cent), an oral presentation (20 per cent) and a 2-hour exam (40 per cent). |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
1 Studying Japanese social and political thought: methodological reflections
2 Globalization and the adoption of a new &«Standard of Civilization&ª
3 Political protest and social mobility in Early Meiji Japan
4 Meiji conservatism and the creation of the emperor state
5 The Taisho Democracy from a world-historical perspective
6 Gender roles, realities and gender politics in prewar Japan
7 The ideological foundations of Japanese expansion and preparation for &«total war&ª
8 Embracing defeat and the postwar order; the Anpo controversy
9 Left terrorism and the resurgence of cultural nationalism
10 &«The third opening&ª: Social and Political thought in post-Cold War Japan
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| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Gluck, C., 1985, Japan&©s Modern Myths: Ideology in the Late Meiji Period. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Wakabayashi, B.T., ed., 1998, Modern Japanese Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gordon, A., ed., 1993, Postwar Japan as History. Berkeley: University of California Press.
McCormack, G, and Sugimoto, Y., eds., 1988, The Japanese Trajectory: Modernization and Beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Urs Matthias Zachmann
Tel: (0131 6)50 4225
Email: |
Course secretary | Mr David Horn
Tel: (0131 6)50 4227
Email: |
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