Hokkaido Dairy Farm: Cosmopolitics of Otherness and Security on the Frontiers of Japan

Hokkaido Dairy Farm examines the rapid industrialization of the dairy industry in Tokachi, Hokkaido, focusing on changes in human relationships and connections through new technologies. It argues that the dairy industry in Japan has always been entwined with notions of Otherness and security seeking, particularly in terms of frontiers.

Format: Hardback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 01 February 2024
Publisher: State University of New York Press

Hokkaido Dairy Farm presents a comprehensive historical and ethnographic exploration of the rapid industrialization of the dairy industry in Tokachi, Hokkaido. It begins by tracing the historical trajectory of dairy farming and consumption in Hokkaido, from its early days of survival and subsistence to the present-day dominance of monoculture and mega industrial operations. The focus then shifts to a specific Tokachi-area dairying community that has experienced significant sociocultural upheaval over the past three decades, examining the transformations in human relationships and the interplay between humans and cows through the introduction of new technologies. In the final chapters, the scope narrows further to focus on a detailed history and ethnography of a single industrializing dairy farm and the diverse individuals associated with it, highlighting their quests for economic, social, and even ontological security in a region and industry often perceived as peripheral. Drawing on over fifteen years of ethnographic, policy, and historical research, Hokkaido Dairy Farm contends that the dairy industry in Japan has always been intertwined with notions of Otherness and security seeking, particularly in terms of frontiers.

Weight: 628g
Dimension: 159 x 236 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781438496474