Post-political citizenship in Japan: Reiwa Shinsengumi's challenge

This research project examines changing practices of political citizenship in contemporary Japan and their consequences for Japan's neoliberal political order. For decades, Japan has been characterized by popular withdrawal from politics, with record low voter turnout in the 2019 upper house elections. However, these elections also witnessed the unexpected success of Reiwa Shinsengumi, an insurgent left populist party seeking to mobilize popular support in a challenge to the political status quo. This project investigates how Reiwa Shinsengumi is remaking political citizenship in the context of mass political disengagement. It asks: How do Japanese citizens respond to the party's call to participate in a more confrontational form of politics? How is contestation with existing forms of political citizenship manifested, and what new kinds of political citizenship emerge? What does the outcome tell us about the vulnerability and resilience of Japan's political status quo? How does this further our understanding about different forms of democratic citizenship amidst a global resurgence of populism and the calling into question of neoliberal hegemonies?