D Baker - 日英翻訳者

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翻訳 53

2022019

〈年越し派遣村から10年〉上/自己責任社会は変わらず?/貧困は可視化できたけれど

 

リーマンショック後の2008年末から翌年初めにかけて取り組まれた「年越し派遣村」。職を失って路上に放り出された労働者ら約550人が、東京の日比谷公園で命をつないだ。あれから10年。格差と貧困は改善されたのだろうか――そうした問題意識で2月16日、都内で反貧困ネットワーク全国集会が開かれた。

 

状況はむしろ悪化

 

 同集会実行委員会が主催した。当時、派遣村名誉村長を務めた宇都宮健児実行委員長は、幅広い労働組合や市民団体、弁護士・医師らの専門家集団が連携して運営し、失業者らの姿が大きく報道される中で「貧困問題を可視化できた」と指摘。その後、同様の取り組みが全国170カ所に広がり、政権交代の原動力の一つになったと述べた。

 宇都宮氏は「格差と貧困を是正する社会をつくれると期待したが、残念ながら状況はむしろ悪化した。自己責任社会の状況は今も変えることができていない」と語った。

 2012年12月には自民党が再び政権に就き、登録型派遣などを禁止するはずだった労働者派遣法改正案が骨抜きになり、生活保護基準は切り下げられた。

 芸能人の母親が生活保護を受給していたことや、受給者(保護利用者)による飲酒、外食、パチンコ店通いに対し、「どこが貧困なのか」とバッシングが強まった。

 

貧困が日常化した

 

 生活保護問題に詳しい猪股正弁護士は「自己責任論は、派遣村で一時的に弱まった。困窮者の実態が伝わったからだと思う。しかし、今は当時よりも強まっていると感じる」。その理由についてこう述べた。

「この10年で非正規率が40%に達し、収入も貯蓄も減少した。生活が苦しくなるなか、自己責任で頑張っている人たちは多い。この人々は他人にも頑張りを求めがちで、頑張り切れない人たちが何らかの恩恵を受けるとバッシングしたくなるのではないか」

 作家で活動家の雨宮処凛さんも自己責任論の強まりを指摘した。貧困を訴えた女子高生が千円のランチを食べたことが問題視された事例を紹介しながら、「本当に清く正しい貧困者なのか」という線引きが今も続いていると語った。「貧困が日常化して可視化しにくくなっている」とも述べた。

 

 派遣ユニオンの関根秀一郎書記長は「状況は当時と全く変わっていない。むしろ、派遣労働者は不安定なまま増やされた。今も多くの派遣労働者が簡単に雇い止めされている」と告発した。その上で「派遣は自分で選んだんでしょ」という自己責任論が依然として強いと訴えた。

https://www.rengo-news-agency.com/2019/02/20/%E5%B9%B4%E8%B6%8A%E3%81%97%E6%B4%BE%E9%81%A3%E6%9D%91%E3%81%8B%E3%82%8910%E5%B9%B4-%E4%B8%8A-%E8%87%AA%E5%B7%B1%E8%B2%AC%E4%BB%BB%E7%A4%BE%E4%BC%9A%E3%81%AF%E5%A4%89%E3%82%8F%E3%82%89%E3%81%9A-%E8%B2%A7%E5%9B%B0%E3%81%AF%E5%8F%AF%E8%A6%96%E5%8C%96%E3%81%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%81%9F%E3%81%91%E3%82%8C%E3%81%A9/

 

February 20, 2019

Ten years on from Toshikoshi Hakenmura: has the culture of personal responsibility changed? What happened after we could see poverty

 

Toshikoshi Hakenmura opened in the post-Lehman Brothers collapse days, at the end of 2008, and continued into the start of 2009. Around 550 workers who had lost their jobs and been thrown out on the streets lived in the 'dispatch workers village' in Hibiya Park in Tokyo. That was ten years ago now, so, have inequality and poverty improved since then? The Anti-Poverty Network explored similar questions and their answers at their national meeting on February 16th in Tokyo.

 

“The situation is actually worse now.”

The meeting was sponsored by the executive committee, and heard from executive committee chairman, Utsunomiya Kenji, who was honorary 'mayor' of the village at the time. He said that through media coverage of the unemployed, and the coordinated management of the village by a wide range of trade unions, civic organizations and specialist organizations including lawyers and doctors, the public could more readily visualize poverty. Since then, similar initiatives have sprung up in 170 sites across the country, and became one of the driving forces behind the change in government. However, Utsunomiya continued, “Though I hoped we could create a society that would eliminate inequality and poverty, unfortunately, the situation is actually worse now. The culture of emphasizing personal responsibility has yet to change, even now.”

 

In December 2012, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) again took power, resulting in the watering down of amendments to the Worker Dispatch Act that were supposed to ban registration-type worker dispatching, and the reduction of the livelihood protection standard. There was widespread and fierce criticism towards cases like that of a celebrity's mother receiving welfare, and other welfare recipients drinking, eating out, and going to pachinko parlors, leading to many people doubting the true existence of poverty.

 

● “Poverty has become commonplace”

Inomata Tadashi, a lawyer with considerable experience in welfare issues, said, “The idea of personal responsibility temporarily abated when the Hakenmura was on our TV screens. I think the public could see the true reality of poverty. But that way of thinking has crept back and is much stronger again now.” He suggested the reason for this. “In the last 10 years, the rate of irregular employment has reached 40%, and income and savings have decreased. Many people are doing their best, taking personal responsibility, even though their lives have become difficult. It seems to me that people tend to want others to work harder, and when others can't work that hard but still receive some kind of benefit, they are liable to respond with criticism.”

 

Writer and activist Amamiya Karin pointed to the renewed strength of the personal responsibility ideology. She raised the case of a high school girl, who claimed to be living in poverty, but whose 1000 yen ($9) lunches were seen as evidence to the contrary. “There is still a debate about whether she could really be classed as poor.” She continued, “Poverty has become commonplace, and yet conversely become harder to visualize.” Sekine Shuichirō, secretary general of Haken Union, an organization that supports dispatch workers, said, “The situation has not changed at all.

Rather, there has been an increase in dispatch workers despite the instability. A huge number of dispatch workers still find that they can be laid off easily.” On top of that, he argues, society responds with a strong insistence on personal responsibility, meaning that the public often feel that dispatch workers have chosen this fate for themselves.