Medium Posts
MEDIUM POST #1
Write and publish a post reflecting on the forms of mutual aid that you have read about thus far in this course and discuss how one of these examples might be adopted to alleviate the forms of precarity that some communities are living through today (this can be campus or non-campus based).
Throughout this course, we are able to observe various forms of mutual aid in Japanese society, often caused by the lack of basic human rights and equal treatment from the government and the higher authorities. The hardships faced by these individuals due to discrimination and social inequality brought these individuals together in order to empathize, as well as work together in order to bring about changes in such an unjust social environment.
One instance where we are able to see mutual aid form in communities is with the Zainichi, or the Koreans in Japan. Because they were not of Japanese descent, the Zainichis faced harsh discriminations from the government and higher authorities, as well as the commoners in Japan. According to Caprio’s writing, it is stated that the Japanese soldiers would subject the Koreans to physical abuse out on the streets, but no Japanese would stop such acts. Instead, they encouraged it, and the commoners would participate in such discriminating acts. The Zainichis would be told to return to their own country, but with so much economical and political restrictions placed, it was hard to find their way back home. They were stuck in a place where they were heavily discriminated at, with no way out for the most part. This called for forms of mutual aid to form amongst the Zainichis, as well as other foreigners, in order to survive in Japan. For instance, we are able to see in Kang’s writing how due to his status as a minority in Japanese society, he is able to relate with other minority groups who also face harsh treatments and inequality with compassion and empathy.
MEDIUM POST #2
Reread Cooke’s “Letter on a Plague Year” with one of the Japan-related readings assigned in this course (of your choice). Has your reading of Cooke’s piece changed now that you are re-reading it in week 10? How has thinking with your classmates about mutual aid and solidarity in Japan, in the middle of a pandemic, been like? What additional conversations would have been helpful in this moment?
Due to the pandemic, I think that mutual aid and solidarity became harder to see and/or experience if you compare it to Japan after World War II. In Japan, due to discrimination targeted at minorities, the individuals belonging in these minority groups felt empathy and compassion for one another. This brought them together, helping form deep connections and forms of mutual aid to help one another survive in such harsh social and economical conditions. However, you don’t see mutual aid forming during the pandemic as much because of the fear that each individual has for another. To help contain and slow down the spread of the disease, the government enforced the ideas of social distancing and implemented policies of staying at home restrictions. They stressed the point that individuals should stay away from one another because the other person might be a carrier or infected with the disease. This placed fear in the minds of individuals, making them afraid of social contact and coming within close proximity to others. Such fear was so enforced to the point that even family members felt it uncomfortable to be near one another in case they had contact with someone with the disease. Due to the lack of contact and time spent together with one another, forming mutual aid was nearly impossible, or harder than before. There were cases where a close relative contracted the disease and brought other relatives together to cope and take care of one another during this hard time, but it was hard to find mutual aid and solidarity forming amongst individuals who were merely acquaintances or not related by familial ties. However, on campus, I think if you were living on college campus, mutual aid and solidarity formed, in a way that everyone was so socially deprived in the last few years, and everyone found comfort in social environment created by living with others in same situations and in the same stage in life. For instance, I became very close with friends that I lived with on campus and would hang out with them often after being socially deprived, and I would go to social gatherings and notice that everyone else was just as open as I was with making new social connections due to the lack of social interaction previously.
