Beyond Japan: The Dynamics of East Asian Regionalism (Cornell Studies in Political Economy)

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 344 pages
• Published by: Cornell University Press February 2, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0801472504
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0801472503
• Book Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Weighs: 1.2 pounds

Product Description
Have Japan’s relative economic decline and China’s rapid ascent altered the dynamics of Asian regionalism? Peter Katzenstein and Takashi Shiraishi, the editors of Network Power, one of the most comprehensive volumes on East Asian regionalism in the 1990s, present here an impressive new collection that brings the reader up to date.

This book argues that East Asia’s regional dynamics are no longer the result of a simple extension of any one national model. While Japanese institutional structures and political practices remain critically important, the new East Asia now under construction is more than, and different from, the sum of its various national parts. At the outset of a new century, the interplay of Japanese factors with Chinese, American, and other national influences is producing a distinctively new East Asian region. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Back Cover Copy
"Drawing attention to certain political, social, and economic developments in Japan, this book offers important insights on the changing engagement of Japan with East Asia since the early 1990s."-Muthiah Alagappa, Director, East-West Center Washington --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Reader Reviews
Experts have traditionally thought of regionalization as the extension of a national model on a continental scale. The process of region-making in East Asia has long been analyzed in terms of the "flying geese" model of interaction between Japan and Asia, with Japan as the head goose driving the rest of the flock into its trail. This vision of a Japan-centered regional economy was sustained by a distinctly Japanese model of development, by the internationalization of Japanese finance, and by Japanese regional production networks. Now the temptation is to dismiss Japan and to see China as the new model in East Asia, overlooking the fact that Japan's GDP lead over China is roughly four to one and about forty to one on a per capita basis. China is indeed growing fast and may eventually topple Japan, or even the United States, in the quest for regional supremacy, but playing catch-up with the industrialized world will take time, and power transition in East Asia will be shaped by many factors. According to Katzenstein and Shiraishi, East Asia is growing beyond any one national model. We are witnessing the emergence of a truly hybrid form of regionalism mixing elements of Japanization, Americanization, and Sinicization, in a way that makes it virtually impossible to untangle distinct national influences. Several viable alternatives are coexisting and drawing elements from each other. It is therefore no longer valid to see Japan as "the main bridge between Asia and the West", adapting Western cultural productions and values to fit the Asian public, or mediating US capitalism with a concern for state intervention and long-term planning that makes it more palatable to Asian policy makers. As one contributor to the volume notes, the influence of the old, uncool, hierarchic, and economically focussed Japan has declined in East Asia, and the influence of the new, cool, chaotic, and culturally diverse Japan has risen. But one should not read too much into the success of manga, anime, and J-Pop. Significantly, their popularity has been construed as an element of soft power at a time when Japanese seemingly have little else to cheer about, so as to compensate their frustration with their lack of influence in world's affairs. The mixing of American, Japanese, Chinese, and other East Asian influences is not so much transmitting distinctive national models as it is helping to spark hybrid regionalization. Such hybridity undermines established preconceptions about the differences that separate Japan from China, or the Orient from the West. There are three factors that drive institution-building in East Asia. The first might be labeled defensive regionalism: other regions are doing the same, so East Asians have better get their act together and join their strength to yield better leverage in international arenas. The second factor is growing economic interdependence within the region, which calls for trade facilitation and policy coordination. The third factor is competitive pressure within the region: to make productive networks more competitive and investment more attractive, East Asian pursue voluntary liberalization and conclude preferential trade agreements both within and outside the region. One distinct characteristic of this volume is to include in regional dynamics actors that are not usually considered by political scientists when they survey regionalization. One chapter makes the case that social change in Japan is in large part driven by fringe actors such as students, slackers, singles, seniors, and strangers. Another chapter treats nature as an active force that shapes regional interdependence. Shrimps, eucalyptus trees, and golf courses are artefacts that are not fully reductible to human agency, and the combination of these environmental forces creates a "shadow ecology" within the resource hinterland of Japan. The last chapter focusses on the middle class as the main engine of cultural hybridization. Beyond national differences, middle classes in East Asia have a lot in common in their professional life and their lifestyle, in their aspirations and dreams.