Resistance and co-optation: The Japanese federation of the deaf and its relations with state power

Abstract

The main organization of the deaf in Japan has not only been able to work within a civil law environment designed largely to promote the interests of the state and quell social protest, but has been able to succeed in manipulating the system to its own benefit. It has shown remarkable organizational flexibility by subdividing in an amoeba-like fashion to avoid political control. This paper engages questions of power and resistance in the civil society framework of Japan.