Wearing Ideology: State, Schooling and Self-Presentation in Japan (Dress, Body, Culture) - Softcover

McVeigh, Brian J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1859734901 ISBN 13: 9781859734902

Publisher: Berg Publishers, 2000

Synopsis

Uniforms are not unique to Japan, but their popularity there suggests important linkages: material culture, politico-economic projects, bodily management, and the construction of subjectivity are all connected to the wearing of uniforms. This book examines what the donning of uniforms says about cultural psychology and the expression of economic nationalism in Japan. Conformity in dress is especially apparent amongst students, who are required to wear uniforms by most schools. Drawing on concrete examples, the author focuses particularly on student uniforms, which are key socializing objects in Japans politico-economic order, but also examines office ladies (secretaries), salary men (white collar workers), service personnel, and housewives, who wear a type of uniformed dress. Arguing that uniforms can be viewed as material markers of a life cycle managed by powerful politico-economic institutions, he also shows that resistance to official state projects is expressed by anti-uniforming modes of self

About this title

About the Authors

Brian J. McVeigh

Brian J. McVeigh has published a number of books with Bloomsbury. He received his PhD in anthropology from Princeton University, researches how humans adapt, both through history and therapeutically, and has published extensively on counseling, the history of Japanese psychology, the origins of religions, the Bible, ancient Egypt, spirit possession, art and popular culture, linguistics, nationalism, and changing definitions of self, time, and space. He lived and worked in China and Japan for many years and taught at the University of Arizona. He is in private practice as a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) and is Senior Researcher and Advisor at the Julian Jaynes Society. His current projects include Ghosts and Gods of Ancient Rome: What They Say about Human Mentality, Julian Jaynes for Beginners, and a work of fiction, The Abyss Speaks.

Joanne B. Eicher was Regents Professor Emerita at the University of Minnesota. Joanne was Editor-in-Chief, Encyclopedia of Dress and Fashion (Bloomsbury and OUP); Series Editor, Dress, Body, Culture (Bloomsbury) and Dress and Fashion Research (Bloomsbury); Editor, Global Trade and Cultural Authentication: The Kalabari of the Niger Delta; and Co-Author, The Visible Self (Fairchild); Dress and Gender (Berg); Dress and Ethnicity (Berg); Beads and Beadmakers (Berg); Mother, Daughter, Sister, Bride (National Geographic); and a wide variety of published articles in professional journals and chapters in books.

Edition details

• Publisher: Berg Publishers
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1859734901
• ISBN 13: 9781859734902
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 244