Post Fukushima Activism

Author : Azumi Tamura
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351654063
Total Pages : 248 pages
Book Rating : 4.67/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Post-Fukushima Activism written by Azumi Tamura and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-06-08 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Political disillusionment is widespread in contemporary society. In Japan, the search for the ‘outside’ of a stagnant reality sometimes leads marginalized young people to a disastrous image of social change. The Fukushima nuclear disaster was the realization of such an image, triggering the largest wave of activism since the 1960s. The disaster revealed the interconnected nature of contemporary society. The protesters regretted that their past indifference to politics prefigured such catastrophe and became motivated to protest in the streets. They did not share any totalizing ideology or predetermined collective identity. Instead, the activism provided a space for each body to encounter others who forced them to feel and think, which also introduced an ethical dimension to their politics. In this book, Azumi Tamura proposes a concept of politics as a series of endless experiments based on creative responses to unexpected forces. Instead of searching for a transcendental reference for politics, she investigates an immanent force within individuals that motivates them to become involved in political action. Referencing Deleuzian philosophy, Tamura provides a different epistemological and ontological approach to the Social Movement Studies. She suggests social movements themselves generate knowledge about how one may live better in a complex society and where our lives are exposed to uncertainty. This knowledge is neither empirical knowledge, nor normative political theory of ‘how we should live.’ Instead, social movements bring affective knowledge into politics as they offer a space for experimenting with ‘how we might live.’ The encounter with such knowledge galvanizes our desire for ‘how we want to live’ and encourages new experiments.

Author : Alexander James Brown
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 135134949X
Total Pages : 220 pages
Book Rating : 4.99/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Anti-nuclear Protest in Post-Fukushima Tokyo written by Alexander James Brown and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-04-19 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the politics of anti-nuclear activism in Tokyo after the Fukushima nuclear disaster of March 2011. Analyzing the protests in the context of a longer history of citizen activism in Tokyo, it also situates the movement within the framework of a global struggle for democracy, from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street. By examining the anti-nuclear movement at both urban and transnational scales, the book also reveals the complex geography of today’s globally connected social movements. It emphasizes the contestation of urban space by anti-nuclear activists in Tokyo and the weaving together of urban and cyber space in their praxis. By focusing on the cultural life of the movement—from its characteristic demonstration style to its blogs, zines and pamphlets—this book communicates activists’ voices in their own words. Based on excellent ethnographic research, it concludes that the anti-nuclear protests in Tokyo after the Fukushima disaster have redefined social movement politics for a new era. Providing an analysis of a unique period in Japan’s contemporary urban history from the perspective of eyewitness observations, this book will be useful to students and scholars of Japanese Politics, Sociology and Japanese Studies in general.

Author : David Chiavacci
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351608134
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4.38/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Social Movements and Political Activism in Contemporary Japan written by David Chiavacci and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-02-21 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores social movements and political activism in contemporary Japan, arguing that the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident marks a decisive moment, which has led to an unprecedented resurgence in social and protest movements and inaugurated a new era of civic engagement. Offering fresh perspectives on both older and more current forms of activism in Japan, together with studies of specific movements that developed after Fukushima, this volume tackles questions of emerging and persistent structural challenges that activists face in contemporary Japan. With attention to the question of where the new sense of contention in Japan has emerged from and how the newly developing movements have been shaped by the neo-conservative policies of the Japanese government, the authors ask how the Japanese experience adds to our understanding of how social movements work, and whether it might challenge prevailing theoretical frameworks.

Author : Akihiro Ogawa
Publisher : Stanford University Press
ISBN 13 : 1503635902
Total Pages : 341 pages
Book Rating : 4.06/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Antinuclear Citizens written by Akihiro Ogawa and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2023-06-27 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, tsunamis engulfed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant located on Japan's Pacific Coast, leading to the worst nuclear disaster the world has seen since the Chernobyl crisis of 1986. Prior to this disaster, Japan had the third largest commercial nuclear program in the world, surpassed only by those in the United States and France—nuclear power significantly contributed to Japan's economic prosperity, and nearly 30% of Japan's electricity was generated by reactors dotted across the archipelago, from northern Hokkaido to southern Kyushu. This long period of institutional stasis was, however, punctuated by the crisis of March 11, which became a critical juncture for Japanese nuclear policymaking. As Akihiro Ogawa argues, the primary agent for this change is what he calls "antinuclear citizens"— a conscientious Japanese public who envision a sustainable life in a nuclear-free society. Drawing on over a decade of ethnographic research conducted across Japan—including antinuclear rallies, meetings with bureaucrats, and at renewable energy production sites—Ogawa presents an historical record of ordinary people's actions as they sought to survive and navigate a new reality post-Fukushima. Ultimately, Ogawa argues that effective sustainability efforts require collaborations that are grounded in civil society and challenge hegemonic ideology, efforts that reimagine societies and landscapes—especially those dominated by industrial capitalism—to help build a productive symbiosis between industry and sustainability.

Author : Etsuko Kinefuchi
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1000488594
Total Pages : 238 pages
Book Rating : 4.93/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Competing Discourses on Japan’s Nuclear Power written by Etsuko Kinefuchi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-11-29 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the discursive formation of nuclear power in Japan to provide insights into the ways this technology has been both promoted and resisted, constituting and being constituted by Japan’s sociocultural landscape. Each chapter pays close attention to a particular discursive site, including newspaper editorials, public relations campaigns, local site fights, urban antinuclear activism, and post-Fukushima pronuclear and antinuclear articulations. The book also raises the question of democracy and sustainability through the examination of nuclear power discourses. It demonstrates the power of discourse in shaping nuclear power by creating knowledge, influencing decisions, relationships, identity, and community. Readers will gain a range of insights from the book: prominent articulations on nuclear power discourse, state and corporate strategies for enticing consent for controversial facilities and technologies, the power of the media in framing public knowledge, the role of social movements and activisms in civic society, the power of community, and nuclear power as a problematic in representative democracy and sustainability. This book will appeal to students and scholars interested in social discourse, social movements, Japanese society, cultural studies, environmental communication, media analysis, energy and sustainability, and democracy, among others.

Author : Beata Bochorodycz
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1000632717
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.12/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Fukushima and Civil Society written by Beata Bochorodycz and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-08-18 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyzes the impact of the Fukushima disaster on civil society in Japan with particular attention to the anti-nuclear movement, focusing on its development, repertoire of action, mobilization strategies, modes of operation, and impact on the state’s energy policy. Combining social movement theory and civil society theory, the author draws on extensive fieldwork in Japan to explore the context of the sociopolitical situation in Japan up to the Fukushima accident and to offer a typological description and analysis of the anti-nuclear movement that emerged after the disaster. Through an analysis of the relationship between the power elite and the anti-nuclear movement organizations, this volume considers the influences exercised by the ruling elites on civil society and vice versa, thus assessing the effects of the anti-nuclear movement on the state policy and the society. A comprehensive account of the anti-nuclear movement in post-Fukushima Japan, embedded within a broader perspective of the movement’s historical development, contemporary political structures, and opportunities, Fukushima and Civil Society will appeal to scholars of sociology and politics with an interest in social movements. Chapter 4 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.

Author : Sabu Kohso
Publisher : Duke University Press
ISBN 13 : 1478012536
Total Pages : 144 pages
Book Rating : 4.35/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Radiation and Revolution written by Sabu Kohso and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-11 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Radiation and Revolution political theorist and anticapitalist activist Sabu Kohso uses the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster to illuminate the relationship between nuclear power, capitalism, and the nation-state. Combining an activist's commitment to changing the world with a theorist's determination to grasp the world in its complexity, Kohso outlines how the disaster is not just a pivotal event in postwar Japan; it represents the epitome of the capitalist-state mode of development that continues to devastate the planet's environment. Throughout, he captures the lived experiences of the disaster's victims, shows how the Japanese government's insistence on nuclear power embodies the constitution of its regime under the influence of US global strategy, and considers the future of a radioactive planet driven by nuclearized capitalism. As Kohso demonstrates, nuclear power is not a mere source of energy—it has become the organizing principle of the global order and the most effective way to simultaneously accumulate profit and govern the populace. For those who aspire to a world free from domination by capitalist nation-states, Kohso argues, the abolition of nuclear energy and weaponry is imperative.

Author : Noriko Manabe
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190606533
Total Pages : 464 pages
Book Rating : 4.34/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Revolution Will Not Be Televised written by Noriko Manabe and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-12-18 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nuclear power has been a contentious issue in Japan since the 1950s, and in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, the conflict has only grown. Government agencies and the nuclear industry continue to push a nuclear agenda, while the mainstream media adheres to the official line that nuclear power is Japan's future. Public debate about nuclear energy is strongly discouraged. Nevertheless, antinuclear activism has swelled into one of the most popular and passionate movements in Japan, leading to a powerful wave of protest music. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Protest Music After Fukushima shows that music played a central role in expressing antinuclear sentiments and mobilizing political resistance in Japan. Combining musical analysis with ethnographic participation, author Noriko Manabe offers an innovative typology of the spaces central to the performance of protest music--cyberspace, demonstrations, festivals, and recordings. She argues that these four spaces encourage different modes of participation and methods of political messaging. The openness, mobile accessibility, and potential anonymity of cyberspace have allowed musicians to directly challenge the ethos of silence that permeated Japanese culture post-Fukushima. Moving from cyberspace to real space, Manabe shows how the performance and reception of music played at public demonstrations are shaped by the urban geographies of Japanese cities. While short on open public space, urban centers in Japan offer protesters a wide range of governmental and commercial spaces in which to demonstrate, with activist musicians tailoring their performances to the particular landscapes and soundscapes of each. Music festivals are a space apart from everyday life, encouraging musicians and audience members to freely engage in political expression through informative and immersive performances. Conversely, Japanese record companies and producers discourage major-label musicians from expressing political views in recordings, forcing antinuclear musicians to express dissent indirectly: through allegories, metaphors, and metonyms. The first book on Japan's antinuclear music, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised provides a compelling new perspective on the role of music in political movements.

Author : Noriko Manabe
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199334706
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.04/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Revolution Will Not Be Televised written by Noriko Manabe and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-11-17 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nuclear power has been a contentious issue in Japan since the 1950s, and in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, the conflict has only grown. Government agencies and the nuclear industry continue to push a nuclear agenda, while the mainstream media adheres to the official line that nuclear power is Japan's future. Public debate about nuclear energy is strongly discouraged. Nevertheless, antinuclear activism has swelled into one of the most popular and passionate movements in Japan, leading to a powerful wave of protest music. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Protest Music After Fukushima shows that music played a central role in expressing antinuclear sentiments and mobilizing political resistance in Japan. Combining musical analysis with ethnographic participation, author Noriko Manabe offers an innovative typology of the spaces central to the performance of protest music--cyberspace, demonstrations, festivals, and recordings. She argues that these four spaces encourage different modes of participation and methods of political messaging. The openness, mobile accessibility, and potential anonymity of cyberspace have allowed musicians to directly challenge the ethos of silence that permeated Japanese culture post-Fukushima. Moving from cyberspace to real space, Manabe shows how the performance and reception of music played at public demonstrations are shaped by the urban geographies of Japanese cities. While short on open public space, urban centers in Japan offer protesters a wide range of governmental and commercial spaces in which to demonstrate, with activist musicians tailoring their performances to the particular landscapes and soundscapes of each. Music festivals are a space apart from everyday life, encouraging musicians and audience members to freely engage in political expression through informative and immersive performances. Conversely, Japanese record companies and producers discourage major-label musicians from expressing political views in recordings, forcing antinuclear musicians to express dissent indirectly: through allegories, metaphors, and metonyms. The first book on Japan's antinuclear music, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised provides a compelling new perspective on the role of music in political movements.

Author : Takashi Horie
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781920901851
Total Pages : 228 pages
Book Rating : 4.5X/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Amorphous Dissent written by Takashi Horie and published by . This book was released on 2021-01-20 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the Fukushima nuclear accident in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 11 March 2011, Japan has seen a significant revival in its social activism. Large-scale social movements sprang up in response to such issues as denuclearization, proposed new US military bases in Okinawa and the 2015 National Security Legislation, propelled by dissatisfaction with the national government's stance on these fronts. In the context of the broader 'amorphization' of Japanese society, this book characterizes these movements as 'amorphous' based on the phenomenon in which movements are formed by diverse and disparate people and display disparate, disorganized and undefined elements in stark contrast to Japanese social movements of the past which were of a highly structured organizational type. The authors have direct, first-hand experience of these social movements and paint vivid pictures of their diverse activities. Chapters focus on issues such as opposition to hate speech and US military bases in Okinawa, and examine in detail movements such as SEALDs, Hangenren and Amateur Revolt, perhaps the most amorphous social movement in Japan of this period.