Overview

What is ninkatsu? Who promotes and governs this “active pursuit of pregnancy?” Trying to answer these questions, this unprecedented publication exhibits how mass media, policymakers, and biomedical science-corporate capitalism govern the individual’s reproductive choices in contemporary Japan through gendered discourses of self-improvement, life planning, and biomedical technology. Analyzing a broad range of media, popular science, and government material, it links historical and social processes with an original theoretical framework on self-governance, neoliberalism, and postfeminism. While deeply engaging with Japanese sources, this rich scholarship takes the study of reproductive politics beyond Japan. This book is not only of interest for Japanese studies scholars but more broadly also those curious about neoliberal government strategies, gender, and biomedical capitalism.

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9789004764613

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Reviews

Active Pursuit of Pregnancy is a deeply intelligent, easily accessible and empirically precise and detailed book that adds an innovative perspective to an old, much-discussed topic. The book improves our theoretical understanding of (neoliberal) politics of reproduction – underlying and interwoven dynamics of power, control and interests – and provides detailed insights into several aspects of contemporary Japanese society, in particular the persistence of the highly gendered postwar family ideology. Nora Kottmann in: Contemporary Japan, vol. 34, issue 2 (2022) Active Pursuit of Pregnancy illustrates the complex making of social discourse through the dialectical interactions of the state, society, and the market. The book is an excellent addition to the scholarship pioneered by scholars such as Sheldon Garon and Tiana Norgren, analyzing the reciprocal relationship between the state and societal groups, together forming a system of social management in a democratic society. Aiko Takeuchi-Demirci in: The Journal of Japanese Studies, vol. 49, issue 2, (Summer 2023), pp. 437-441.

Author Information

Isabel Fassbender received her Ph.D. from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (2020) and is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of International Studies at Doshisha Women’s College in Kyoto. Her research field is Japanese studies, focusing on gender, family sociology, and governmentality.

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