We Are Not Garbage!: The Homeless Movement In Tokyo, 1994-2002 (east Asia: History, Politics, Sociology And Culture)

This book offers a full history of a homeless movement in Tokyo that lasted nearly a decade. It shows how homeless people and their external supporters in the city combined their scarce resources to generate and sustain the movement. The study advocates a more nuanced analysis of movement gains to appreciate how poor people can benefit by acting collectively. It also draws attention to potential difficulties faced by lower-stratum movements aided by external allies. In particular, the study highlights how actions of the state can undermine the relations between aggrieved allies in such a way as to limit gains. The book is the first in English to detail homeless mobilization in Japan. It also addresses the origins of increased homelessness and development of homelessness policy in the country. Besides homelessness, it covers a number of current social issues, including economic globalization, social exclusion, and politics over space. Front cover 1 Contents 6 List of Acronyms 8 List of Maps 10 Acknowledgments 12 Chapter One. Introduction 16 Chapter Two. Homelessness in Postwar Japan 38 Chapter Three. Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses 68 Chapter Four. The Initial Period of the Movement (February 1994-January 1996) 84 Chapter Five. The Transitional Period of the Move-ment (January 1996-October 1997) 112 Chapter Six. The Final Period of the Movement (October 1997-mid-2002) with Summary and Conclusions 132 Appendix A: Defining and Counting the Homeless (in the U.S. and Japan) 162 Appendix B: List of Surveys Used in the Study 164 Appendix C: Interviews 172 Appendix D: Chronology of Homeless Policy (in Tokyo and Japan) 174 Notes 180 Bibliography 196 Index 220 Back cover 230 Offers a full history of a homeless movement in Tokyo that lasted nearly a decade. This book shows how homeless people and their external supporters in the city combined their scarce resources to generate and sustain the movement. It also addresses the origins of increased homelessness and development of homelessness policy in the country