The global context of post-Fukushima activism: Exploring an 'embodied' political philosophy in the crisis of democracy

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K13911
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 08010:Sociology-related
• Research Institution: Shiga University
• Principal Investigator: Tamura Azumi 滋賀大学, 経済学系, 准教授 (80781088)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 社会運動 / 原発 / 3.11 / 人新世 / ポストヒューマニズム / 民主主義 / 情動

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research, I conducted follow-up interviews with organizers of anti-nuclear protesters in Tokyo, whom I previously interviewed between 2012 and 2013. This follow-up research illuminated the diverse ways in which the movement has been sustained. Combining this with my previous research, I published these findings in a general interest book. Additionally, in response to the decline in public interest following the 10th anniversary of the earthquake, I interviewed activists who are victims/evacuees from Fukushima to understand their current perspectives. This study revealed how confronting despair can lead to new political initiatives, such as dialogue, allowing me to explore the potential of despair as a political emotion. Finally, I positioned these post-3.11 civil practices as a response to the Anthropocene crisis and systematized the knowledge by incorporating insights from posthumanism. These outcomes were reported at academic conferences both domestically and internationally.

Free Research Field

社会学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

筆者はこれまで3.11後の反原発デモ参加者のインタビュー調査から、後悔という情動が政治的行動を促していると明らかにし、怒りに焦点を当てがちの運動研究に一石を投じた。本研究では、震災後10年を経た福島のアクティビストの調査から、絶望が新たな政治行動を生む過程を示し、政治的情動の議論を深化させた。
3.11後の反原発運動は、国内の社会運動論の文脈か、2011年の世界的な広場型運動の一環として論じられることが多かった。一方で本研究は、原発事故を世界的な人新世の危機の文脈で捉え、反原発運動をポストヒューマン思想の人間中心主義批判の観点から読み解くことで、欧米論者が中心の同思想にも新たな視座を加えた。