{"title":"Media-crafted social inequality: Analyzing the disconnect between Gap Society discourse and social inequality in post-bubble Japan","authors":"Jiangcheng Wu , Keqing Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100193","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100193","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper explores the evolution of Gap Society discourse in Japan from 1988 to 2023, analyzing the disconnect between media portrayals and actual social conditions. Through a combination of critical discourse analysis (CDA) and text mining, the study identifies key discourse types—political, economic, academic, educational, social, and literary—across four periods of growth and decline. It finds that political discourse predominated during periods of growth, while literary discourse gained importance during declines. The study highlights the role of media in constructing symbolic realities, revealing how different newspapers employ similar frameworks to report on the Gap Society, thereby shaping a collective narrative that diverges from objective social conditions. Additionally, this paper also shows how shifting power dynamics among scholars, newspaper editors, writers, and the general public have influenced the evolution of the discourse. This mechanism, rooted in state-led modernization, may be a unique phenomenon in East Asia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"53 2","pages":"Article 100193"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143748061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"C.R. Yadu","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100185","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100185","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"53 1","pages":"Article 100185"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143512300","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"Yige Xue","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100186","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100186","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"53 1","pages":"Article 100186"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143512301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"Thurein Naing","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100191","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100191","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"53 1","pages":"Article 100191"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143474942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"Karolina Nikielska-Sekuła","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100188","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100188","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"53 1","pages":"Article 100188"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143474943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"Youyenn Teo","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100187","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100187","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"53 1","pages":"Article 100187"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143478779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"Yi Qiao","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100189","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100189","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"53 1","pages":"Article 100189"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143464416","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"Renaud Egreteau","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100190","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100190","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"53 1","pages":"Article 100190"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143464417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Young Jun Choi , Hyung-min Joo , Taehee Whang , Wooseon Choi
{"title":"Shifting determinants of socioeconomic status in North Korea: The impact of marketisation","authors":"Young Jun Choi , Hyung-min Joo , Taehee Whang , Wooseon Choi","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100183","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100183","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since the collapse of its socialist command economy in the mid-1990s, North Korea has experienced marketization from below. Has bottom-up marketization also affected the factors that determine subjective perceptions of socioeconomic status in North Korea? Although many studies have investigated various recent changes in North Korea, they often suffer from a lack of solid empirical research based on reliable data. In this paper, we theorize that political factors, which are typically most important in a socialist society, were critical in determining socioeconomic status during the early years of marketization, but economic factors have played an increasingly important role in the more mature stages of marketization. To test our theory, we use a survey of 1,309 North Korean defectors and in-depth interviews with 73 defectors. The results confirm that the key determinants of subjective socioeconomic status have shifted from political factors to market-related elements in contemporary North Korean society.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"53 1","pages":"Article 100183"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143464415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Singaporeans’ subjective social mobility, personal and societal optimism, and political opinions: An exploratory study","authors":"Kwan Jin Yao , Zhen Jie Im","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100184","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100184","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Objective and subjective socio-economic conditions have implications for social cohesion and socio-political behaviors in advanced countries. However, social mobility research focuses disproportionately on objective indicators, and few studies in non-Western contexts examine the role of subjective social mobility. Singapore presents an interesting case, given its commitment to meritocracy and growing social mobility concerns. In an exploratory manner, we first used latent profile analysis to describe Singaporeans’ subjective social mobility. Next, using multinomial logistic regression and linear regression models, we examined how socio-demographic variables relate to subjective social mobility profiles, and how the profiles influence personal and societal optimism and political opinions. Overall, most respondents had Middle Perceived Mobility (versus Low and High). Higher-SES Singaporeans also perceived higher social mobility. Additionally, High Perceived Mobility respondents had consistently higher personal and societal optimism. Overall, political opinions related to jobs, immigration, and integration and cost of living and socio-economic disparities were more varied.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"53 1","pages":"Article 100184"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143464414","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}