Papers by Rafael Munia
Japanese review of cultural anthropology, 2020
Perceptions of young women in Japan are examined in relation to female self-defense. Several wome... more Perceptions of young women in Japan are examined in relation to female self-defense. Several women in Japan were surveyed, with some chosen for interviews. It seemed that self-defense was often connected not to learning assault-prevention techniques but to purchasing self-defense tools. This finding opens two avenues for discussion. First, the marketization of personal safety is explored, as is the genderization of these tools and the subsumption of women's safety into a logic of consumption. Second, the shift from viewing the body as a weapon to viewing the object as one, which projects various forms of subjectification onto women, is discussed. These include the outsourcing of women's agency to an external object. It is concluded that this outsourcing often results in the reinforcement of tropes of fragility and the neutralization of resignifications of the female body that emerges from practitioners who focus on the body as the instrument of self-defense.
IGI Global eBooks, Oct 14, 2022
Post-Modernity, Globalization, Neo-Liberalism, many words come to mind to describe the contempora... more Post-Modernity, Globalization, Neo-Liberalism, many words come to mind to describe the contemporary world, but there is one type of discourse that seems to be gaining hegemonic position regardless of how we describe the present era: Multiculturalism. Particularly in Japan, a country that has since long constructed its identity under the idea of homogeneity, the adoption of the multiculturalist discourse by significant part of the academia, politicians, businessmen and the civil society become even more interesting. In the same context, as Japan`s recent cultural export, the Visual Kei groups, gained notoriety in the international scene contesting many views on Japanese identity with their subversive aesthetics and performances, it bear the question: is Japan changing that much into a society of diversity? As this paper further investigates the question, it becomes clear that ideas of homogeneity and uniqueness, and the rigidity and essentialism of Japanese identity discourses remain unchanged or even worse. So the new question that appears is: How can a country in which multiculturalism discourse is on a rise and Visual Kei bands thrive be experiencing at the same time a rise on nationalism and have its rigid notions of Japaneseness remain unchallenged? This paper argues that what lies under the phenomena of multiculturalism and apparent subversive subcultures is the same ideology, the ideology of tolerance. Through such an ideology, difference is respected and tolerated, it is not made to be interacted with, rather, the concept of heterotopias works well to explicit how such ideology works towards difference in Japan.
Ponto Urbe, Jul 31, 2015
Revista do núcleo de antropologia urbana da USP 16 | 2015
Advances in psychology, mental health, and behavioral studies (APMHBS) book series, Oct 14, 2022
Perceptions of young women in Japan are examined in relation to female self-defense. Several wome... more Perceptions of young women in Japan are examined in relation to female self-defense. Several women in Japan were surveyed, with some chosen for interviews. It seemed that self-defense was often connected not to learning assault-prevention techniques but to purchasing self-defense tools. This finding opens two avenues for discussion. First, the marketization of personal safety is explored, as is the genderization of these tools and the subsumption of women's safety into a logic of consumption. Second, the shift from viewing the body as a weapon to viewing the object as one, which projects various forms of subjectification onto women, is discussed. These include the outsourcing of women's agency to an external object. It is concluded that this outsourcing often results in the reinforcement of tropes of fragility and the neutralization of resignifications of the female body that emerges from practitioners who focus on the body as the instrument of self-defense.
Antropolitica - Revista Contemporanea de Antropologia
O presente artigo trata da produção de subjetividade, fugindo do conceito de “identidade”, entre ... more O presente artigo trata da produção de subjetividade, fugindo do conceito de “identidade”, entre a juventude japonesa no contexto do neo-liberalismo. A partir das narrativas coletadas por meio de entrevistas ao autor, à mídia japonesa, e a outros pesquisadores, foi possível constatar que a produção da subjetividade se dá no meio de duas máquinas de produção de japonesidade distintas: o neo-liberalismo, representado pelo mercado e pelo ideário empreendedor, e a identidade nacional, representada pelas instituições de ensino e os discursos herdados do nihonnjinron. Percebeu-se no decorrer da pesquisa que o aparato neo-liberal, apesar de servir como ferramenta de escape para uma juventude que se ve limitada por um rígido discurso de identidade nacional, também funciona como um mecanismo de captura, reterritorializando os jovens em uma série de novos discursos sobre japonesidade, sem que os discursos identitários abandonem o imaginário japonês.
Ponto Urbe, 2015
Aviso O conteúdo deste website está sujeito à legislação francesa sobre a propriedade intelectual... more Aviso O conteúdo deste website está sujeito à legislação francesa sobre a propriedade intelectual e é propriedade exclusiva do editor. Os trabalhos disponibilizados neste website podem ser consultados e reproduzidos em papel ou suporte digital desde que a sua utilização seja estritamente pessoal ou para fins científicos ou pedagógicos, excluindo-se qualquer exploração comercial. A reprodução deverá mencionar obrigatoriamente o editor, o nome da revista, o autor e a referência do documento. Qualquer outra forma de reprodução é interdita salvo se autorizada previamente pelo editor, excepto nos casos previstos pela legislação em vigor em França. Revues.org é um portal de revistas das ciências sociais e humanas desenvolvido pelo CLÉO, Centro para a edição eletrónica aberta (CNRS, EHESS, UP, UAPV-França)
The concept of Anomie is most famous for being used in the book On Suicide by the French Sociolog... more The concept of Anomie is most famous for being used in the book On Suicide by the French Sociologist Emile Durkheim (1968), used to describe what he called "Anomic Suicide". To Durkheim, the idea of Anomie was related to the mismatch between what could be considered acceptable by the individual and what could be acceptable for the society at large. Durkheim (1960) argues that in a society that produces mechanical solidarity, that is, a division of labor that is mechanic, artificial, and not self-evident nor considered legitimate, could not be operated due to its inertia. Such processes were too rigid and resistant to change, and thus, Durkheim introduced for the first time the term Anomie to explain the outcomes of such mechanical solidarity. In contrast to that, Durkheim also coined the idea of organic solidarity as the arrangement in which occurred self-regulated division of labor based on the differences, establishing equilibrium in such divisions that made anomie impossible. To him, the anomie created by such mechanical solidarities made the norms not being in constant adaptation, thus, becoming too rigid, and one might even say, anachronistic. These now obsolete and rigid norms are considered by Durkheim (1968) to be a symptom of anomie. Since then, the concept of Anomie has been used in many different situations, particularly the conceptualization made by Merton (1938). To him, anomie is defined as the mismatched relation between the society's idea of success, and the institutionalized means to reach this success. To Merton, societies were not only constructed in the idea that the individual should pursue some given goals, but also, and equally important, that such "success is reckoned in terms of the product and in terms of the process, in terms of the outcome and in terms of activities" (p. 674, 1938). In other words, the means and the goals were to be equally important, and it is precisely when we observe that the goals justify the means, that we can see anomie. To Merton, this comes from the fact that, although societies require from individuals that they should attain the goals to be successful, not all societies offer these same individual the opportunity to achieve those goals through institutionalized means. It is when the individual try to abide by the norm, but is not able to, Merton argues, that he tries to attain such goals by any means necessary. When such utilitarian view ensues, anomie is found. This paper has the goal of discussing how the political project of Japan, based on its ideology of homogeneity, produces, on the subjectivities of the Japanese Youth, a certain limitation that can be framed as a form of Anomie. However, in this case the path to Anomie is caused not by the lack of opportunities for the individual to attain by the norm, but rather, the fact that the norm itself, in its rigidity, makes it impossible for the Japanese youth to reach its goals. In addition to these elements, it should also be argued that, especially in contemporary post-industrial societies in which the logic of the market is at least as pervasive as that of the State, societies are no longer having to deal only with the dichotomy proposed by Merton (1938) between social institutions and social goals, but are now having to deal with a schizophrenic order, as explained by Deleuze and Guattari (1987; 2009), caught in between the rigid order of the State, and the anarchic order of the Market. The literature on Anomie, both from a Durkheim perspective (1960; 1968), as well as from a Merton perspective (1938), tend to focus on State centered societies, however, in order to evaluate the phenomenon of anomie in post-fordist societies (MARAZZI, 2008), one cannot leave the influence of the market outside of any societal analysis. It is in this new schizophrenic order that this article positions the subject of the Japanese youth, since work, argues Negri and Hardt, has become biopolitical, which means that "living beings as fixed capital are at the center of this transformation, and the production of forms of life is becoming the basis of added value" (p. 132, 2011).
Japanese Review of Cultural Anthropology, 2020
Perceptions of young women in Japan are examined in relation to female self-defense. Several wome... more Perceptions of young women in Japan are examined in relation to female self-defense. Several women in Japan were surveyed, with some chosen for interviews. It seemed that self-defense was often connected not to learning assault-prevention techniques but to purchasing self-defense tools. This finding opens two avenues for discussion. First, the marketization of personal safety is explored, as is the genderization of these tools and the subsumption of women's safety into a logic of consumption. Second, the shift from viewing the body as a weapon to viewing the object as one, which projects various forms of subjectification onto women, is discussed. These include the outsourcing of women's agency to an external object. It is concluded that this outsourcing often results in the reinforcement of tropes of fragility and the neutralization of resignifications of the female body that emerges from practitioners who focus on the body as the instrument of self-defense.
Revista Antropolítica, 2017
O presente artigo trata da produção de subjetividade, fugindo do conceito de identidade, entre a ... more O presente artigo trata da produção de subjetividade, fugindo do conceito de identidade, entre a juventude japonesa no contexto do neo-liberalismo. A partir das narrativas coletadas por meio de entrevistas ao autor, à mídia japonesa, e a outros pesquisadores, foi possível constatar que a produção da subjetividade se dá no meio de duas máquinas de produção de japonesidade distintas: o neo-liberalismo, representado pelo mercado e pelo ideário empreendedor, e a identidade nacional, representada pelas instituições de ensino e os discursos herdados do nihonnjinron. Percebeu-se no decorrer da pesquisa que o aparato neo-liberal, apesar de servir como ferramenta de escape para uma juventude que se ve limitada por um rígido discurso de identidade nacional, também funciona como um mecanismo de captura, reterritorializando os jovens em uma série de novos discursos sobre japonesidade, sem que os discursos identitários abandonem o imaginário japonês.
As part of a global trend, Japan seems to begin embracing the discourse of multiculturalism
in wh... more As part of a global trend, Japan seems to begin embracing the discourse of multiculturalism
in what could be taken as a departure from the ideology of homogeneity. However, looking
closer at the Japanese case, we can see the waysit has promoted the same hegemonic ideology
of homogeneity with a post-modern veil of tolerance. Thus, what could serve as a subversion
to the rigid and essentialized notion of national identity in Japan isneutralized under the
discourse of tolerance without any need for anti-immigration policies, as Japan seems to
move from a disciplinary society to a society of control characteristic of the neo-liberal
countries. Throughout this article it is argued that the symbolic misery instituted through the
schools’ curriculums, together with a culture of tolerance, acts in ways to prevent any creative
interaction with difference, further solidifying rigid notions of Japaneseness and neutralizing
possible nomadic assemblages to take place.
The present paper explores the production of subjectivities by the Japanese youth in the contempo... more The present paper explores the production of subjectivities by the Japanese youth in the contemporary context of Neo-Liberalism. Through the observation of narratives from Japanese students of diverse backgrounds, it can be observed how such students are in constant contacts with a rigid model of Japanese National Identity throughout all the school. However, many of them confront the limitations that these institutions present them as a model for the future. In this context, many students adopt escape strategies, choosing instead to attempt the entrance at more international institutions, or adopting the ideas of entrepreneurship. What is observed along this paper is how the youth gets trapped within a schizophrenic context, in which the national discourse asks them to enact a single homogenous model of Japaneseness that they can’t fit in, and the market discourse asks them to be global and in a constant improvement that never ends.
Coping with Uncertainty , 2014
The present paper deals with the theme of coping with uncertainty in the context of the Japanese ... more The present paper deals with the theme of coping with uncertainty in the context of the Japanese youth, particularly concerned with their escape strategies and the political consequences of the adoption of such strategy. Through the observation of a multitude of narratives from Japanese students with diverse backgrounds, it can be observed how such students, when faced with some perceived limitations produced by Japanese institutions, instead of attempting to promote changes in such institutions, naturalized such thinking as being simply the Japanese way, choosing instead to escape such institutions to more international ones that they perceive as freer. Although the rigidity of the discourse on Japaneseness can appear to be a way to cope with the uncertainty brought by the contemporary age providing stable and fix identities, what is observed along this paper is how the symbolic misery promoted by such rigid idea of national-identity actually act as another source of pressure in the youth, that gets trapped within a schizophrenic reality in which the national discourse asks them to enact a single model of Japaneseness that they can’t fit in, and the market discourse asks them to be global and in a constant improvement that never ends but is in constant becoming, both being prêt-a-porter subjectivities that exists only in their hyper-real sense. Additionally, the paper concludes, by adopting such strategies, not only the escape is not realized, but the institutions are further strengthened by the lack of demands for change.
Conference Presentations by Rafael Munia
EAAA, 2021
During the Covid pandemic, two facts about the disease seemed to stand against each other. On one... more During the Covid pandemic, two facts about the disease seemed to stand against each other. On one hand, scientists found that the male body made men more susceptible for the coronavirus to settle in and stay longer. While at the same time, statistics were showing that women were beating the blunt of the Covid pandemic the most, victims not only of the virus directly, but also of consequences of the pandemic such as domestic violence, economic hardships, and suicide. On top of that, as countries started to roll out their vaccination efforts, we saw how women were more likely to experience side-effects from the vaccine, which we also learn has been mostly tested on men during its experimental phase. This paper will investigate how the natural vulnerability of the male body to the disease gets transformed through social mediation into the vulnerability of the social condition of women to the disease and its consequences. In order to do that, we will compare how the effects of Covid have been sexually differentiated in Japan and in Korea, two countries that experienced high rates of female suicide and sexual violence during the pandemic. How did the different responses from institutions and from society influenced this outcome in each country and what can we learn from these two experiences? Through this comparison, we will show how vulnerability is socially constructed and gendered, not only to leave women in precarious positions that reinforce and naturalize the social imagination of female-as-vulnerable, but also to erase male vulnerability from the social imaginary as an equally important component of the maintenance of sexual inequality.
The present paper is a result of a two-year intensive ethnography of an intercultural Japanese co... more The present paper is a result of a two-year intensive ethnography of an intercultural Japanese company. While most of the literature on the anthropology of work in Japan regarding foreign workers tend to focus mainly on two types of experiences - those of global companies in which foreign workers and expats take up on international careers in Japan; and those of low-skilled jobs in which foreign migrants usually take up undesirable occupations in Japanese society - this ethnography, however, focuses on a middle level company, in which white collar workers in precarious contracts seek for visa guarantees and some small income to help them sustain their lives in Japan without much chances of a career development. By situating this type of experience within the current discussions on precarity, 24/7 capitalism, and Japanese internationalization efforts, the present paper provides results that both confirm some of the assumptions embedded in these discussions, informs new pathways for potential developments, and challenges some mainstream images about foreign employment and labor in Japan.
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Papers by Rafael Munia
in what could be taken as a departure from the ideology of homogeneity. However, looking
closer at the Japanese case, we can see the waysit has promoted the same hegemonic ideology
of homogeneity with a post-modern veil of tolerance. Thus, what could serve as a subversion
to the rigid and essentialized notion of national identity in Japan isneutralized under the
discourse of tolerance without any need for anti-immigration policies, as Japan seems to
move from a disciplinary society to a society of control characteristic of the neo-liberal
countries. Throughout this article it is argued that the symbolic misery instituted through the
schools’ curriculums, together with a culture of tolerance, acts in ways to prevent any creative
interaction with difference, further solidifying rigid notions of Japaneseness and neutralizing
possible nomadic assemblages to take place.
Conference Presentations by Rafael Munia
in what could be taken as a departure from the ideology of homogeneity. However, looking
closer at the Japanese case, we can see the waysit has promoted the same hegemonic ideology
of homogeneity with a post-modern veil of tolerance. Thus, what could serve as a subversion
to the rigid and essentialized notion of national identity in Japan isneutralized under the
discourse of tolerance without any need for anti-immigration policies, as Japan seems to
move from a disciplinary society to a society of control characteristic of the neo-liberal
countries. Throughout this article it is argued that the symbolic misery instituted through the
schools’ curriculums, together with a culture of tolerance, acts in ways to prevent any creative
interaction with difference, further solidifying rigid notions of Japaneseness and neutralizing
possible nomadic assemblages to take place.