Speaker: David Antoine Malinas, Associate Professor, East Asian Studies, Paris Diderot – Paris 7 University

Associate Professor at Paris-Diderot University in the Department of East Asian Studies, David A. Malinas is researching poverty and social movements in contemporary Japan. He is the author of Homeless Social Movement in Japan and the Rebirth of Disruptive Civil Society in Japan (in French, 2011) and co-editor of Japan at the Beginning of the XXIst Century (in French, forthcoming).

Abstract: The mobilization of Japanese youth has been a recent but decisive factor in strengthening the anti-poverty movement in Japan, which is one of the major Japanese social movements. It triggered major juridical reforms, such as the public assistance law or the temporary workers law. However, little is known about these young people.

By joining the Tokyo Youth Union, one of the major organizations that support the mobilization of young people, I gathered both qualitative and quantitative data regarding its members. I will present new findings concerning the characteristics of these young people and the process that leads to their mobilization.