Japanese antinuclear movements and democracy after the Chernobyl accident

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25885075
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Politics
• Research Institution: Musashi University
• Principal Investigator: ANDO Takemasa 武蔵大学, 社会学部, 准教授 (50434220)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-08-30 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 社会運動 / 民主主義 / 脱原発

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study focuses on antinuclear movements in Japan in the period of post-Chernobyl accident. It focuses on various actions taken by activists living in cities such as measurement of radioactive contamination in food, election campaign, occupation of nuclear facilities, and immigrates to rural areas. I seek to explore the underlying value of democracy, that is, self-government, in these actions.
This study also argues how the “nuclear village”, a network of political elites who have great impacts on nuclear policies, changed the ways of governing antinuclear movements. After the accident, the elites felt threatened by growing mobilization of the movements, made use of ideas originating from them such as feminism and ecology, and innovated the way of governing.

Free Research Field

政治社会学