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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 7 page book review that addresses the text Losing Face: Status Politics in Japan by Susan Pharr. The writer argues that this book not only addresses an issue that is of crucial importance to understanding to democratic governance, i.e., the "problem of equality," but the author also demonstrates how this issue is handled specifically within the context of Japanese culture. In so doing, Pharr offers Western readers valuable insight into Japanese culture; how it has adapted and changed in the post-World War II world, and also how Confucian influences can still be discerned within the workings of the Japanese government. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
7 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khpharr.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
i.e., the "problem of equality," but she also demonstrates how this issue is handled specifically within the context of Japanese culture (Pharr x). In so doing, Pharr offers Western readers
valuable insight into Japanese culture; how it has adapted and changed in the post-World War II world, and also how Confucian influences can still be discerned within the workings of
the Japanese government. As stated in her preface, Pharr explores the "problem of equality in one country: Japan," which is a state known for its "enviable record of stability
and effective rule" (Pharr x). Specifically, Pharr examines specific struggles pertaining to equality that have taken place in Japan and how the government of Japan has reacted to these
issues. As issues of inequality can take a variety of forms, Pharrs perspective also encompasses "disparities in social status based on age, gender, ethnicity, (and) caste background" (Pharr x). The
author refers to these struggles collectively as "status politics" (Pharr x). Another aim of Pharrs text, in addition to discussing issues of equality, is to demonstrate how, "in a
broad sense, the Japanese deal with social conflict" (Pharr xii). Pharr demonstrates that Japanese authorities utilize a "dramatically different view of social conflict and protest," which derives from the
cultural heritage of Confucianism (Pharr xiii). In Confucianism, supreme emphasis is placed on maintaining harmony, which is seen as a "social good" (Pharr xiii). Due to this cultural paradigm, it
is extremely difficult for all stakeholders to bring social grievances under broad public scrutiny. When social conflict arises in Japan, authorities endeavor to contains it as far as this is
possible and use tactics that have the effect of marginalizing protestors, while also keeping them outside the framework of Japanese conflict resolution (Pharr xiii). This approach, which serves to "privatize"
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