Year: 2004
Type: book-review
Abstract: American sociology has come a long way since modernization theorists of the 1950s concluded that Japan would have to become like the United States if they were to achieve advanced industrial nation status.Still, one wonders how far we have come when comparative sociologists include Asian countries in their quantitative data sets with no apparent recognition that some of the numbers may be misleading.It is for reasons such as these that sociologists interested in comparative political economy will find this book extremely useful.The current debate over the nature of "welfare capitalisms" would be greatly enriched with more material on Asian nations such as that provided by Colignon and Usui.Japan scholars, however, will also find this book extremely useful, not because of new ideas about the Japanese political-economy, but because of a wealth of new data confirming much of what we had already suspected.In no industrial society today do we find a power elite as united and commanding as in present day Japan.
Author: Harold R. Kerbo
Institution: California Polytechnic State University
Language: English
Topic: Japanese History and Culture
Subfield: Cultural Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W139513134