“Alternative Unions” and Their Involvement in the Post-3.11 Disaster Politics

Labor unions I call alternative unions are increasingly becoming a noteworthy presence in the contemporary Japanese social movements scene. These are individual membership-based unions, such as general unions and community unions. I call them alternative because from the standpoint of nonstandard workers, they serve as an alternative to enterprise unions from which non-standard workers are usually excluded. This paper examines the ways in which these alternative unions, who have made themselves into prominent figures engaged in nonstandard employment issues, became involved in the post-3.11 disaster politics. This study uses ethnographic and archival data gathered during fieldwork in Japan from April 2008 to September 2009 in addition to follow up research conducted in 2010 through 2013. I demonstrate that alternative unions live enmeshed in a complex web of individual and organizational ties, and they thrive by building new ties as they respond to newly emerging crises. From the standpoint of individuals who are involved in labor disputes through these unions, they come to be enmeshed in a dense network through union affiliation. They develop new bonds and ties with individuals they meet anew. As a consequence of this organizational social capital being transferred to the individual, some come to participate in social movement activities on their own, separate from union affiliation. The network transfer sometimes leads in the long run to nurturing new activists who respond and engage in emergent crises. I argue that alternative unions serve a double role in the field of social movements in Japan. First, they actively engage in emerging crises by utilizing their networks with other unions and civil societies. Secondly, these unions serve to connect individuals through these activities, which sometimes lead individuals to participate in movements on the newly emerging crisis.