Power and change

Abstract

Gill Steel and Marie Thorsten introduce the theoretical framework and empirical evidence presented in Power in Contemporary Japan that demonstrates (i) how power operates within the family, the community, and the workplace and (ii) how the state exercises power. The analyses in this volume reveal change in power relations in societal organization; in the ways in which policy is formulated and administered; and in how citizens react to power, whether this is the power of the state, employer, or individual. Rather than a pervasive government and a passive populace, these studies show the ebb and flow of power over time and also note that power is context dependent-actors can have power in one context, but not another.