Human Security and Foreign Workers Acceptance in Japan – External Policy and Internal Praxis
Presentation Type:
Oral Presentation
Authors:
Sardar Ahmed Shah, Osaka University, Japan
Since the 1990s, Japan has included ‘human security’ as one of its pillars of foreign policy and as one of the objectives of its foreign aid. Strengthening Japan’s role in the international community as a promoter of peacebuilding and international development, the Japanese government has actively emphasized on the provision of human security abroad. At the same time, a dichotomy exists between this external policy promotion and the lack of application of the same principles when it comes to the acceptance and treatment of foreign workers coming to Japan, such as that of technical trainees and the 2018 policy change of specified skilled workers.
This paper aims to analyze the issue of foreign workers’ acceptance in Japan using the human security framework, that of freedom from fear and want and the protection of people from threats. When it comes to human security as a framework, not just the international or citizenship side must be analyzed, but it is also important that the domestic application of the concept is also studied, expanded, and applied. The paper, therefore, argues that the human security framework should not just be limited to an ‘external’ foreign and international aid policy or for the projection of Japan’s image as a promoter of international development and peace, but it is also useful to incorporate human security into the ‘internal’ domestic governance and labor policy regarding acceptance and treatment of foreign workers, in order to truly realize the aims of the framework as a ‘people’ centric approach.
Presentation Date/Time: Sunday, December 11, 2022 (14:00)
Session: Session 3
Room: Fai Kham Room