How the State Replaces Civilization: The Japanese Exception

Authors

Robert Bedeski, University of VictoriaFollow

Keywords

Japan, state, civilization, theory, transcendence

Abstract

By conceptualizing civilization and state as integrated systems consisting of interacting subsystems, their similarities and differences can be analyzed. The central hypothesis is that civilization consists of three material subsystems — economy, government, and knowledge — and one non-material subsystem, transcendence. When the transcendent subsystem is diminished or destroyed by decree or overwhelming rational and scientific evidence, the emergence of the state occurs as in the cases of the Mongol Empire, the Soviet Union, and communist China.

The apparent universality of this observation is countered by an examination of the Japanese civilization and state, where imperial transcendence dominated and reinforced the militant state. After the defeat and an American occupation that abrogated the imperial mystique as state doctrine, collective transcendence metamorphized into individual immanence, thus maintaining a balance between civilization and state. Post-Cold War political and economic reforms provide evidence that the secular state is sovereign in the material realm with no intention to affect civilization-nourishing immanence.

Recommended Citation

Bedeski, Robert (2025) "How the State Replaces Civilization: The Japanese Exception," Comparative Civilizations Review: Vol. 92: No. 1, Article 9.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/ccr/vol92/iss1/9