일본 시민운동의 1970년대 ‘빙하기’ 이론 분석: 『시민』에 나타난 ‘정치적 거리두기’를 중심으로

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the discourse in the magazine Shimin to examine the “Ice Age” theory surrounding Japanese civil society movements and discuss the phenomenon of “political distancing” from a political sociological perspective. The study focuses on the process of depoliticization in the 1970s, as Japan transitioned from a period of high economic growth to one of low growth. It explores how Japanese citizen movements established and gradually distanced themselves from political engagement during their organizational and institutional development. To this end, the study analyzes articles, the composition of the editorial board, and contributions by civil movement leaders published in the magazine Shimin in the 1970s, which was issued to disseminate information about the civil movement, to examine discussions on the relationship between civil movements and politics and the direction they pursued. Through a critical review of previous studies that characterized the 1970s as the “Ice Age” of Japanese civil movements, this paper redefines the period as one marked by a decline or stagnation in political activities. It introduces the concept of “political distancing” as an active choice by citizen movements, emphasizing the shift towards preserving the purity of the movements. The study argues that this distancing occurred as citizen movements, which had previously engaged with politics through the support of progressive local governments, began to adhere to their non-political ideals. The structure of this paper is as follows: Chapter 1 reviews the “Ice Age” theory of Japanese civil society movements and discusses the significance of analyzing Shimin. Chapter 2 examines the characteristics and significance of citizen movements in the 1970s within the context of postwar civil society. Chapter 3 explores the rise and fall of progressive local governments and the publication history of Shimin. Chapter 4 discusses the relationship between citizen movements and politics as presented in Shimin, addressing the structural frustrations encountered when seeking direct democracy and the subsequent decline in political critique consciousness. Finally, Chapter 5 verifies the processes and mechanisms through which the perception of “political avoidance” spread among civil movements, establishing “political distancing” as a normative behavior in the 1970s.