Daniel White, "Administering Affect: Pop-Culture Japan and the Politics of Anxiety" (Stanford UP, 2022)
New Books in Anthropology
Chapter 3 - Animated Diplomacy Characterizing Impossory Nationalism
GJX: I was very much reminded of I think it's GJX favorite anecdote about the nature of ideology which is essentially that it works even if you don't believe in it. So this is animated diplomacy characterizing obligatory nationalism and your exploration of this idea of obligatory nationalism as it's playing out in the foreign ministry of Japan foundation etc begins with the designation in 2009 of the classic anime character Doraemon as a cultural ambassador for Japan. The way administrators feel toward the state and thus shape its programs and policies is also shaped by a larger culture of obligation to colleagues and to administrative work culture in Japan. However despite the kind of many different affective dispositions one might have toward
