Japan: the 'abnormal' state

15 April 2014

How Japan's constitution can be revised is central to the ongoing debate on Japanese defense policy. The issue of constitutional revision has become entrenched on the political agenda not least due to recurring tensions between Japan and China. The debate often predics Japan might take an increasingly 'normal' approach in world politics.

In contrast, post-war Japan has been described by academia internationally and by Japanese society as 'abnormal' when it comes to its foreign and security policy. Why is Japan branded as 'abnormal', and from where does the desire to 'normalise' come from?

In a recent article by Linus Hagström at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI), published in the European Journal of International Relations, Hagström argues that the 'abnormality-normalisation nexus' can be understood in terms of three identity-producing processes: (1) the process whereby the Japanese Self is socialised in US/'Western' norms, ultimately constructing it as an Other in the international system; (2) the process whereby the Japanese Self imagines itself as 'legitimately exceptional' (what is called 'exceptionalisation'), but also 'illegitimately abnormal' ? both of which are epitomised by Japan's 'pacifism'; and (3) the process whereby both the Self's 'negative abnormality' and China/Asia develop security measures to become a more 'normal' (or super-normal) Japanese Self. 


How Japan is constructed on a scale between 'normal' and 'abnormal' both enables and constrains the development of foreign and security policy. Although Japan has not remilitarised nearly as much in the 2000s as is often claimed by academics and pundits alike, these processes might very well forebode an exceptional decision on the road to 'normal' and therefore pave the way for significant steps towards remilitarisation.

Read Linus Hagström's article in full.

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