Mobilizing places Beyond the politics of essentialism in the Okinawa anti-base struggle
Shinnosuke Takahashi2020, Cultural and Social Division in Contemporary Japan: Rethinking Discourses of Inclusion and Exclusion
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315143705visibility
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Abstract
This article examines the various ways in which "locality" is articulated, represented and practiced in the Okinawan anti-base movement by reflecting upon the recent political development of Okinawa's base problems. Like its antonym, globality, locality is an elusive term, defined by many people in different ways, depending on their respective contexts and positions. However, locality is not only a context-dependent term but also an important determinant to contextualize and narrativize nature, culture and humans. Therefore, the meaning of the term is not free from the political process of exclusion and inclusion by marking "inside" and "outside" of the boundaries. While the exclusive nature of identity politics has been criticized at least for the last several decades, we witness its resurgence in many parts of the globe from both ends of the political spectrum. In it locality is articulated to give a legitimate voice for those who are socially marginalized. Japan's Southern-most island prefecture, Okinawa, is no exception. While examining the recent surge of politics over local identity, I seek to raise the limits and possibilities of locality in enacting political identity. I argue that the shift of our focus from identity politics to the identity-making process enables us to understand that the so-called Okinawa identity is not self-evident but created and developed by various manifestations of locality.
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Setting Out to Imagine a New Community: Okinawa's Reversion to Japan. In: Hein, Ina; Prochaska-Meyer, Isabelle (eds., 2015): 40 Years Since Reversion. Negotiating the Okinawa Difference in Japan Today. Wien: Japanologie am Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften der Universität Wien. pp. 44-70.
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