Freeters
As a result of capitalist pressures, the Japanese workforce has resulted in more than just traditional salarymen. Freeters, or furi-ta in Japanese, have been categorized as partially or unemployed, also classified as NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training), youth between the ages of eighteen to thirty-four. As of 2003, Mark Driscoll reports that the 20 percent of Japanese youth, equating to over 1.8 million freeters, has only been steadily increasing (Driscoll 2007). This “intensification of labor flexibility [that] is axiomatic [of] neoliberalism” (Driscoll 2007) is a clear reflection of the effects of market and corporate deregulation in Japan. Freeters have been viewed to been liberated from the grips of societal institutions, but a focused perspective reveals a lack of true choice in employment and vitality. Burdened by exploitation of their labor (sakushu) and disposability (tsukaisuteru) (Driscoll 2007), freeters are not exclusive to Japan. Freeter-like migrant workers in China face harsh market subjectivities as well (Hansen 2012).
The lack of societal approval and integration of the freeter lifestyle is evident in the condemnation of Japanese hostages in Iraq. Despite promotion by freeter-positives of the ability to choose non-traditional vocational pathways, the three captured Japanese freeters were targeted for “innate irresponsibility, implicit anti-Japaneseness, and selfishness”, even being billed by the government for their return airfare (Driscoll 2007). The freeter lifestyle is thus becoming accepted as an exasperated tolerance for the Japanese society as long as capitalist profits can continue to exploit targeted youth and disenfranchised marginal groups. Mining transient and temporary workers for their value via labor continues to segregate and compartmentalize them as a segment not fully integrated into the overall state and labor markets. Although capitalism has yielded huge economic successes evident in the intensely rapid growth of major East Asian countries, the extensive contributions made by estranged workers only came with minimal remuneration (Hansen 2012).
The lack of societal approval and integration of the freeter lifestyle is evident in the condemnation of Japanese hostages in Iraq. Despite promotion by freeter-positives of the ability to choose non-traditional vocational pathways, the three captured Japanese freeters were targeted for “innate irresponsibility, implicit anti-Japaneseness, and selfishness”, even being billed by the government for their return airfare (Driscoll 2007). The freeter lifestyle is thus becoming accepted as an exasperated tolerance for the Japanese society as long as capitalist profits can continue to exploit targeted youth and disenfranchised marginal groups. Mining transient and temporary workers for their value via labor continues to segregate and compartmentalize them as a segment not fully integrated into the overall state and labor markets. Although capitalism has yielded huge economic successes evident in the intensely rapid growth of major East Asian countries, the extensive contributions made by estranged workers only came with minimal remuneration (Hansen 2012).
This page is a tag of:
The Gendered Impact of Neoliberalism and the Patriarchy in Japan, Intersection of Neoliberalism and Precarious Labor, What Does Precarious Labor Actually Look Like?, Contextualizing Hip-Hop in Japan and Its Role in Youth Culture, The Freeter: 汚い、危険、きつい., Suicide in East Asia, Precarious Relationships, Utilization of Social Capital by Precarious Youth View all tags
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