Social Constructionism in the Study of Social Problems and Globalization: International Human Rights Narratives and Efforts to Abolish Death Penalty in Japan

Spector and Kitsuse’s Constructing Social Problems has influenced scholars around the world. However, it remains a book by American scholars, who drew heavily on their understanding of the social problems process in the U.S. This paper examines claimsmaking about the death penalty in Japan. It seeks to explain the prominence of references to international law in those claims--an emphasis rather different than found in U.S. claims about the same issue.