Meritocracy’s Children: Coming of Age and Senses of Injustice in Seoul and Tokyo
Millennials are meritocracy’s children. They are more educated than any previous generations and deeply believe in the promise of meritocracy. Their belief in meritocracy, however, is betrayed by the actual social condition of our times—the rise of income inequality, precarity among the young and women, and a polarisation of the middle class, to name a few.
In this talk, Dr Asahina will argue that millennials in Seoul and Tokyo show markedly different responses to similar structural changes, which he calls meritocratic resignation (Tokyo) and meritocratic deprivation (Seoul). This talk’s goal is to zoom in on and contextualise the tension between the hope young adults had for their future and the reality they faced as they came of age in Seoul and Tokyo and show how the same belief in meritocracy can make people angry or leave them to blame themselves in different places.
Date: 31 January 2025, 17:00
Venue: St Antony's College, 62 Woodstock Road OX2 6JF
Venue Details: Pavilion Room, 4th Floor, Gateway Building, St Antony's College
Speaker: Dr Yuki Asahina (University of Manchester)
Organising department: Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies
Organiser: Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies
Part of: Nissan Institute Seminar in Japanese Studies
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Public
Editor: Robin Nicholson