Koyō kankei to shakaiteki fubyōdō: Sangyōteki shitizunshippu keisei tenkai to shite no kōzō hendō (Employment Relations and Social Inequalities: Social Structural Changes Shaped by the Development of Industrial Citizenship)

Abstract

Labour reforms have been implemented in Japan since the 1990s, and the resulting inequalities between regular and non-regular employees have become the core of the inequality problems in Japan in the 21st century. Thus, it is important to ask certain questions. What was the economic, political, and institutional background for the increase in non-regular employees? Why have the inequalities between regular and non-regular employees not been reduced? How will the employment system of Japanese companies change in the future? One may find answers to all these questions in this book. Using new institutionalism in sociology as the basic methodology, this treatise by Imai Jun explains the labour reforms that have taken place over the last three decades and their impact on social inequalities in Japan. It attempts to bridge institutional and social stratification studies. This book is based on one of Imai’s previous publications (Imai 2011) but is not merely a Japanese translation of the same. Four new chapters have been added, and the chapters based on the previous book have been substantially revised. This new book is worth reading, even for readers of the previous work.