Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II

by John W. Dower

Despite its ultimate marginalization, the left contributed in major and enduring ways to defining the contours of democratization. As in much of Western Europe, Marxism in various versions became established as an integral part of political thought and activism, and radical or heterodox concepts became a familiar part of everyday life. Given their dynamic successes in mobilizing mass demonstrations, labor and the left established themselves as forces that, however weakened, still had to be accommodated. Economically, one result was the emergence of a style of capitalism that differed in significant ways from the American model. Influential economic policy makers (often taught by distinguished Marxist or neo-Marxist educators in elite universities) embraced the necessity and desirability of active state intervention in the economy. The goals of establishing job security and eliminating gross economic disparities became widely accepted. And, even as they undercut the emergence of a radical and autonomous labor movement, business executives and management collaborated with labor leaders to promote corporatist structures of “enterprise unionism” that were genuinely responsive to many of labor’s demands.