Introduction - Religion and Politics in Contemporary Japan - page 27

compartmentalised into neat categories of ' my political self ' or ' my religious

self , this is not particularly remarkable. Instead, what stands out is their

refusal to be marginalised and privatised, as Casanova (1994: 5) has argued
was the case with religion throughout the world. However, where they refuse
to be marginalised is not so much in terms of religious doctrine, as it is in
terms of values and ideals, and action taken to further a particular worldview.
We can see that religious practice is the root of political beliefs, commitment
to achieving wider objectives, and the ability to take consistent collective
action over long periods.
In this way, the term civil society becomes useful as it describes a sphere of
organised activity that is concerned with public a

'

airs. Pharr (2003: 318),
who writes about Japan, bases her ideas on Schmitter s

(2000) work to propose that the concept of civil society is applicable when an
association meets the following minimal criteria:

' s (1997) and Rudolph '

dual autonomy in that they be relatively independent of both public

authorities and private units of production and reproduction

'

' (i.e. rms

and families);

capacity for collective action in defence of or in pursuit of their interests
and concerns;

non-usurpation in that they do not seek to replace state agent or to run the
polity; and

voluntary in nature, or at least to the extent that membership or inclusion
is not coerced.

In recent years, civil society has become a somewhat overstretched term, vig-
orously portrayed as the solution to various societal and political tensions.
Edwards (2004) outlines how civil society debates have tended to focus on
civil society as associational life, civil society as working for the good society,
or civil society as engaged in the public sphere. He concludes that if a civil
society is to be a progressive force in society it needs to span all three spheres.
We

find that some new religions in Japan span all three areas of civil society,
as is the case with Soka Gakkai.
Yet religion as a sphere of social activity in Japan has, as elsewhere (cf.
Herbert 2003), been excluded from Western notions of civil society. This is at
least partly because the assumption is that the public sphere of religion is
concerned only with religious rituals of sorts. Civil society scholars such as
Alexander (1997, 1998) exclude religious groups based on the assumption that
they deny pluralism and diversity. While that is undoubtedly the case for
some religious groups, it is of course not the exclusive domain of religion to
be parochial and sectarian. If we were to consider how interest groups such as
trade unions or business groups were dogmatic or intolerant in pursuit of
their objectives, we would find that they often undermine democracy because

of their lack of commitment to broader issues of common societal concerns.
Hardacre excludes or includes religious organisations depending on: