There is a large gap between Japan’s ranking on indicators of economic development and on indicators of gender equality. This book helps us to understand why.

The chapters in this volume illuminate important dimensions of gender inequality in Japan – in relation to class, and in comparison to other countries. The book considers the relation of gender inequality to neoliberal policies, and the implications of gender inequality for social reproduction. It demonstrates the ways in which leading Japanese scholars are debating and analysing these issues, in dialogue with feminist economists from Mexico and UK.

The chapters in this book were originally published in The Japanese Political Economy.

Diane Elson is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Essex. She has published widely on gender and development. She was awarded the Leontief Prize for Advancing Frontiers of Economic Thought, 2016, and the International Book Prize, Japan Society of Political Economy, 2018.