Witnessing the stress test of democratic institutions in our own time offers a penetrating glimpse into conditions that enabled the rise of Japanese fascism in the 1930s: the fragility of political norms, the vulnerability of institutions to repurposing and hostile take-overs, the Faustian bargains both large and small that chipped away at the guard rails of democracy. Louise Young has written about politics and culture in wartime Japan and the sources of right-wing extremism. Join us for a discussion of the slide into de-facto dictatorship in 1930s Japan and what it tells us about the nature of modern democratic states.

Speakers:
• Louise Young, Professor of Japanese History, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Ulrike Schaede, Professor and Director of the Japan Forum for Innovation and Technology, GPS UC San Diego
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This Zoominar is supported in part by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, San Francisco.