'We are not garbage.': The homeless movement in Tokyo, 1994--2002 (Japan).

摘要

This dissertation examines how a coalition of homeless people and non-homeless activists conducted a recent homeless movement in Japan's capital, Tokyo. By drawing on the relational perspective of social movements, it explains the emergence, trajectory, and outcomes of the movement. The analysis first shows why homelessness increased in Japan in the past two decades, second, how brokerage by non-homeless activists helped the movement emerge, and third, how repression and certification by polity members eventually debilitated the movement. I identify the gains that the movement generated for the aggrieved as it evolved. The main argument is that relational mechanisms not only shaped the emergence and trajectory of the movement but, by altering the relations among the homeless, non-homeless activists, and their targets of action (especially the metropolitan and local governments), significantly affected the challengers' goals, tactical choices, and gains. The present study draws attention to recent lower-stratum movements in which external collaborators participate. It indicates that, while external allies may prove crucial in mobilization, their ongoing relations with the aggrieved may be complex and changing in ways that prevent the realization of a full potential of collaboration between the aggrieved and their allies. The study also draws attention to actions of the state that limit collaboration between the two.