Suchergebnisse

The purpose of this paper is to define the organizational characteristics of voluntary associations and grass‐roots organizations (NPO) in Japan by a quantitative survey and by clarifying their organizational structures. First, with respect to formalization of the organization, it appears that the differences in the scale of the organization are greater than the fields and forms of the activities. If the scale is related to the degree of formalization, we can consider that the "invisibility" which describes the present situation of voluntary associations as a result of being small. However, if we look at the changes in the organizational structure and their activities, one will know such a result is not always true. Over 80% of the organizations have begun new activities. As the structures of the organizations change, we cannot conclude that the voluntary associations are merely immature. More likely, the action of the formalizing process depending on the organizational scale competes with the action of changing the definition of formalization. Second, when we analyzed the actual situation of the innovation, we discovered that the emergence of the new activities was related to whether and how strongly they related externally. Particularly, in the case of providing human and social welfare services, the stronger the relationship with the caretaker (client) is, the more new activities emerge. If so, this leads to the next hypothesis, that the origins of the innovation in these organizations are demanded by what the external relationship should be.

Historically, Japanese labor unions have organized the core of the labor force in Japanese companies. The increase in the number of nonregular employees in the labor market and the decrease of the unionization of core regular workers is imposing new challenges on the mainstream labor movement. Against this backdrop labor supply takes on a new dimension, notably as a result of a falling birth rate and the role of foreign workers. The latter takes on a distinct significance in this context. This article will provide an assessment of the latent and more obvious difficulties facing the unionization of foreign workers by focusing on the experience of labor activists in Kanagawa City Union, in Kanagawa Prefecture just south of Tokyo. This minority union organizes many Latin American workers, among whom Peruvians form the most numerous group. The second issue surrounds the precarious nature of workers' employment. The third and final matter addresses the character of the response by mainstream labor, especially Rengo, to this and other community unions. Finally, how and to what extent can the distinctive structure of such marginal unions provide a new dimension to the analysis of the problems casual workers are facing in society?