Leiden University Student Repository

Duin, Myrthe (2014)

Fighting fire with fire: The Buraku Liberation League and the Buraku Master Narrative in the fight for human rights

Master thesis | Asian Studies (60 EC) (MA)

This thesis offers an insight into the hardships of Japan’s largest minority group, the Burakumin. Whilst the generally accepted explanation for their social ostracism is that they are descendants of Japan’s former feudal outcaste community, this narrative, when held up to the light, contains sporadic, ambiguous and unempirical building blocks. All the same, it remains the master narrative in most of the discussion, even in those who are inherently victimized by it and those who wish to end this discrimination, such as Buraku activist groups. What this thesis will attempt to research then, is in how far this Buraku master narrative influences Buraku self-identity and the possible solutions to the Buraku issue.

Japan

Discrimination

Burakumin

Self-identity

Human rights

Buraku Liberation League

Master Narrative

Author

Duin, Myrthe

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

History, Arts and Culture of Asia

Supervisors

Paramore, Kiri

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en