Hideo Nakazawa

     In this article, we proposed the necessity of archival science in social research and the management of the social research data, based on the experience of the SORD data archive project. First, we insisted that the preservation of the social research data should be done by the researchers themselves, and a standard rule for that is required in the academic society. Second, we clarified that the secondary analysis of a qualitative research, which will find one aspect of the object society that did not come into view in the recognition frame of the research at that time, become difficult if the researchers at that time wouldn't leave the accurate records of the research. Third, we point out the importance of the collection of material, which include the material indicating process of research, the information of the research group organization and the management method of social research, the structural factor and the historical backgrounds of the object society, in order to enable retrieving the process of the formation of the hypotheses of the research group at that time. To accomplish the above purpose, the establishment of the archival science in social research is indispensable. And, it can be said that it is necessary to achieve cooperation with the museology whose historians are dominant now.

In this paper we aim to examine organizational strategies of postwar Japanese resident's movements that experienced the peak of mobilization in the early 1970s. Though this kind of study is crucial to clarify characteristics of such newly emerging grassroots movements as NPOs and local referendums in the 90s, many researchers have neglected this historical context. The focus of analysis is placed on how the dynamics of local politics (especially governability of local conservative elites) influenced the organizational strategies of resident's movements through the change of incentive structures.

Japan has witnessed a new cycle of social protests in the 1990s, which includes the rapidly diffusing local referendum movements, a boom in NGO/NPOs and a growth in environmental networks. Some scholars say that these social movements and networks have some continuities to the residents' movements in the 60-70s. So, the theme of increasing importance is to reconsider the dynamics and implications of 60-70s residents' movements. Using the method of event analysis, we investigate the following theoretical issues concerning the decisive factor that brought about protest waves of environmental movements in postwar Japan (1968-82). Japanese social movement studies have tended to argue that "structural strains" determined the rise and fall of the residents' movements. That is, they have been regarded as a reaction to rapid economic growth and urbanization since early 1960s. But this sort of explanation cannot explain the variety of local protest activities and the recently emerging protest wave. Thus we compare the validity of "the structural strains" and the "political opportunity structure" explanations of the dynamics of protest waves in Japan, using multiple regression analysis. Our findings fail to support structural strain theories, while the political opportunity structure showed a significant effect on protest events. Then, using multiple regression analysis again, we proceed to compare regional differences. We assumed that following three independent variables each reflect dimensions of the regional political opportunity structure: (a) increasing access, (b) influential allies and (c) unstable alignments. The results show that prefectures with unstable alignments, and prefectures ruled by conservative government are more likely to have protest events.