We Are Not Garbage!: The Homeless Movement in Tokyo, 1994-2002

by Hasegawa; Miki

• ISBN13: 9780415976930
• ISBN10: 0415976936
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781135507831
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-04-26
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This book offers a full history of a homeless movement in Tokyo that lasted nearly a decade. It shows how homeless people and their external supporters in the city combined their scarce resources to generate and sustain the movement. The study advocates a more nuanced analysis of movement gains to appreciate how poor people can benefit by acting collectively. It also draws attention to potential difficulties faced by lower-stratum movements aided by external allies. In particular, the study highlights how actions of the state can undermine the relations between the aggrieved their allies in such a way as to limit gains. The book is the first in English to detail homeless mobilization in Japan. It also addresses the origins of increased homelessness and development of homelessness policy in the country. Besides homelessness, it covers a number of current social issues, including economic globalization, social exclusion, and politics over space.

Table of Contents

List of Acronyms	vii
List of Maps	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Chapter One Introduction	1	(22)
Chapter Two Homelessness in Postwar Japan	23	(30)
Chapter Three Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses	53	(16)
Chapter Four The Initial Period of the Movement (February 1994–January 1996)	69	(28)
Chapter Five The Transitional Period of the Movement (January 1996–October 1997)	97	(20)
Chapter Six The Final Period of the Movement (October 1997–mid-2002) with Summary and Conclusions	117	(30)
Appendix A Defining and Counting the Homeless (in the U.S. and Japan)	147	(2)
Appendix B List of Surveys Used in the Study	149	(8)
Appendix C Interviews	157	(2)
Appendix D Chronology of Homeless Policy (in Tokyo and Japan)	159	(6)
Notes	165	(16)
Bibliography	181	(24)
Index	205