Performing the meanings of money in the trials of war orphans against Japan

Abstract

Utilitarian accounts of monetary disputes hinge on too limited an understanding of the nature of money. This limitation is particularly salient when it is applied to studying the disputes regarding compensation in historical grievance litigations. This article, based on in-depth interviews with 40 “war orphans,” Japanese citizens who were left behind in China after Japan’s surrender in 1945, shows how parties primarily disagree on the question of “What for?” and not “How much?” We argue that the disputes centered around the meaning of the money offered by the Japanese government. We identify three types of “money acts” through which money is demanded and justified, labeled and categorized, divided and distributed. The lingering resentment felt by the war orphans can only be made sense of by attending to the meaning dimension of this legal-cum-political dispute that lasted for a decade.