ABSTRACT
The introduction to the volume outlines the research topics and defines the theoretical vocabulary used in the following chapters. The authors highlight the emergence, and continued relevance, of calls to protect “weak” groups and interests, such as animals, disaster victims or cultural heritage, in Japan and China since the late nineteenth century. While these calls resonate with similar debates in societies in Europe or the US, they are not indicative of a “convergence” of global patterns of societal development. Rather, social actors in both countries often appropriate global concepts such as cultural heritage for the domestic context to legitimise specific policies and institutional measures related to “weak” groups and interests. In this context, “weakness” is not pre-defined but is understood as being ascribed to a given group or interest through an open-ended dynamic of public contestation and justification. This dynamic can involve the groups in question, but calls for “protecting the weak” are usually made in lieu of the “weak”. These calls aim not only to mobilise capacities and resources to effect protective measures such as new laws, but also to increase the legitimacy of those arguing for protection. As they are often voiced by different actors and relate intimately to the definition of the common good in a given society, they can result in complex processes of social negotiation and contestation. To analyse these debates and their practical outcomes, the authors propose the concepts of framing, mobilisation and institutionalisation. These concepts allow the authors to grasp both the discursive formation of calls for protection as well as the social and institutional processes that result from them. All these processes are in turn embedded in the social, economic and political context of the respective countries. The authors particularly emphasise the role of the historically strong state in Japan and China and its shifting approach, which ranges from empowerment to marginalisation, towards calls to “protect the weak”.
