06.03.2024From ethnonationalism to neoliberal nationalism and neoliberal humanitarianism: the logics of post-war migration and refugee policies in Japan

Lecturer

Prof. Gracia Liu-Farrer (Waseda University)

Date and Time

March 6, 2024, 2:15 pm - 3:45 pm

Venue

Rämistrasse 59, CH-8001 Zürich, Room RAA-G-15

Abstract

Japan's post-World War II immigration and refugee policies have undergone several stages. The following developments characterize its policy toward labor migration: There was no immigration policy in the first three decades after the war (1945-1975); selective migration prioritized highly skilled individuals while restricting low-skilled labor migration from the late 1980s onwards; and the loosening of restrictions on manual and service migrant workers from the 2010s. Japan's policy toward refugees has also developed slowly. Japan resisted signing the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol until 1981. While admitting extremely few Convention refugees, since 1991, Japan has granted a sizable number of asylum seekers temporary resident statuses. This presentation provides an overview of post-war Japan's migration and refugee policy development and discusses the contexts and rationales of their emergence and application. It argues that three concepts capture the logic of Japan's policymaking: ethnonationalism, neoliberal nationalism, and neoliberal humanitarianism.

Organization

Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies - Japanese Studies