Value Politics in Japan and Europe

"This book offers rigorous and in-depth comparative discussions on "values politics" in Japan and in Europe. It will be of interest to scholars in international relations and politics, Japanese Studies and to policy makers in both Japan and Europe."

Erica Baffelli, University of Manchester, UK

"Experience of value upheavals, with an emerging orientation toward authoritarianism and crises of legitimacy on democracy, has been much discussed but independently in both Japan and Europe in the first two decades of the 21st century. Does this actually occur in common or show any difference between Japan and Europe? What groups of citizens are supporting the trend? This fascinating volume, collaborated by joint research of Japanese and European scholars, asks these questions from multiple perspectives using powerful multi-empirical methods with effective use of comparative datasets, shows how much value changes in Japan and Europe are constrained by polarization and diversification in the political, sociocultural, historical, institutional context as well as social network and media. It also examines the differentiation of authoritarian value for different demographic groups in Japan, where Asian vertical social-relational emphasis and harmony-oriented values are amalgamated, and reveals its contrast with Europe, where the values are much linked with ideological fissures."

Ken’ichi Ikeda, Doshisha University, Japan