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Erich Fromm and Critical Theory in Post-War Japanese Social Theory. Its Past, Present, and Future

  • Erich Fromm has been one of the most influential social theorists in Japanese social sciences, especially in sociology and social psychology and the adoption of his theory reflects the socio-cultural structure of post-war Japan and its historical changes. In this paper, I will examine Fromm's social theory in relation to Japan's post-war swift rehabilitation and rapid economic growth and discuss the remarkable role that it played by the 1970s in critical analysis of Japanese society. I will discuss Fromm's popularity and influence in Japan, examining its theoretical features from the view point of Critical Theory, since in Japan Fromm's theory is considered to have its roots not only in American sociology and social psychology but also in German Critical Theory (the Frankfurt School). As a result of Japan's economic success and status as an affluent consumption society, however, postmodern relativism and cynicism prevailed in the world of thought through 1980s and 1990s and consequently Fromm was forgotten. This story of Fromm in Japan is not over, however, for we will discuss how neo-liberal reforms are breaking the fetters of an outdated Japanese-style management regime and giving people the freedom for self-realization. This >pseudo positive freedom<, of course, creates again the social pathologies of escapes from freedom Fromm discussed in 1940s. Fromm's normative anthropology of human freedom is thus recovering its popularity and has a great theoretical potential for critiquing today's neo-liberal reforms.

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Metadaten
Author:Takeshi Deguchi
Publisher URL (printed edition):http://www.psychosozial-verlag.de/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/2535/CATALOGSSID/8c52oh5o77t4cs3r5m2r2722j4
Parent Title (English):R. Funk and N. McLaughlin (Eds.), Towards a Human Science. The Relevance of Erich Fromm for Today, Giessen (Psychosozial-Verlag) 2015, pp. 219-232.
Document Type:Articles
Language:English
Year of first Publication:2015
Release Date:2015/12/14
Format:PDF-scan to download
IdNo:Deguchi_T_2015
Writings about Erich Fromm (Secondary Literature):Articles / Artikel
Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive:Articles / Artikel
Licence (German):
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