SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

Women in Japanese Faith-Based Volunteer Groups: From Continuity to Innovation

The literature on volunteering regards religion and gender as two important components positively related to civic engagement, which in turn is believed to foster citizenship and democratization. In the Japanese context, a rooted motherhood logic informed by state discourses is deemed to facilitate a propensity towards activities that are conventionally associated with an ethic of caring. In these terms, women’s volunteering in faith-based groups may be seen as a form of identification to mainstream gender and volunteer narratives substantiated by a religious identity fostering a philanthropic attitude. These arguments make women’s volunteering as exerting little or no effect in society, although they skillfully employ local resources, help transforming private concerns into collective issues (such as eldercare or childcare), complement the extant services and propose alternatives. Drawing upon a survey conducted in Japan in 2009-2010, this presentation gives an outline of the aspects of continuity and innovation that are found in the activities of women volunteering in three Japanese faith-based volunteer groups (Shinnyo-en, Risshō Kōseikai, and the Catholic Church of Japan respectively). The presentation will offer a view of Japanese women’s engagement in faith-based volunteering as a vehicle for democratization and it will highlight the elements of continuity that are inherently part of social change.

Paola Cavaliere obtained an MA in Japanese Language and Literature from Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia in 1994. After working for a fashion company for five years, she studied at the University of Tokyo on a Monbukagakusho scholarship in 2002. In 2004 she moved to Shiga Prefecture to work as a Coordinator for International Relations (JET Programme). From 2009 to 2010 she was a Research Assistant at Tohoku University, Graduate  School  of  Law,  GCOE  Gender  Equality  and Multicultural  Conviviality  in  the  Age  of  Globalisation. She completed her PhD in Japanese Studies in 2012 with a joint degree awarded by the University of Sheffield and Tohoku University.