Under a Global Mask: Family Narratives and Local Memory in a Global Social Movement in Japan

The present paper examines motivational aspects of the global peace movement, using as a case the World Peace Now movement in Japan. This campaign, which has extensive international networks and synchronized actions with global “waves of protest”, is part of a global anti-war protest movement. Using data collected from interviews and a protest survey to gauge participation motives and attributed meanings to the participation, the paper argues that the campaign, despite its global outlook, is localized and historically idiosyncratic. Indifferent to the global, participants\u27 motives are drawn from personal experiences and family narratives, and localized collective memory of the past. The paper offers “surface interaction” as concept to understand current global social movements among movement organizations in different countries