Die japanische Produktionsweise: Zur wissenschaftlichen Genese einer stereotypen Sicht der japanischen Wirtschaft (The Japanese Production Mode: On the Genesis of a Stereotypical View of Japan's Economy)

This volume analyzes the genesis of a world-wide stereotype of Japan: the image of “Japan Incorporated,” which originated between 1920 and 1970 in Japan on the basis of European approaches, and was subsequently received by European and American scholars, before being uncritically accepted by the general public. The formulation of specific theorems and opinions in the Japanese and non-Japanese economic and social sciences is examined; the research traditions and theoretical foundations of these fields are made clear. The aim of this study is to clarify the issue over which parts of a theory, originating from what kind of intellectual tradition: Karl Marx, Max Weber, Talcott-Parsons etc., have in what way influenced the study of Japan, and especially the study of the Japanese production mode. Günther Distelrath’s critical work in the history of science puts some all too convenient pseudo-convictions on Japan and the supposed “Japan Incorporated” back into place.