Towards de-cold-war politics: Nationalism, democracy and new politics of/for education in Japan

Abstract

Almost 30 years have passed since the 'end' of cold-war geopolitics, marked by the demise of communism, the breakup of the Soviet Union and the removal of the Berlin Wall. There was much celebration of the global spread of capitalist economy and the universalisation of liberal democracy as brining progress all around the world. The declaration of 'the end of history' - or the inevitable 'triumph' of liberal capitalist democracy - served to justify the dominating role that the United States played in world political affairs thereafter. In this so-called 'post-political' world, it was believed that the antagonism between the left and Right in the dmoestic political scene would soon disappear, and ideological conflicts would be replaced by consensual or dialogic liberal politica (cf. Mouffe 2005). And yet, the spell of cold-war politics continues to shape politics and subjectivies in Asia (Chen 2010).