Prof: Japan's nuclear disaster inspires civil society to act, engage
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - While Japan continues to evaluate energy sources a year after the March 2011 earthquake and resulting nuclear reactor tragedy, the country has found a new power source. Its citizens are inspired to mobilize and challenge policy, says a Purdue University expert.
"We've seen a huge spike in the last year of grassroots activism, from people interested in volunteering to people signing petitions and people engaging in citizen science," says Daniel Aldrich, an associate professor of political science who studies civil society's influence on the placement of controversial facilities, specifically nuclear power plants. "The traditional top-down perspective has changed, and people at the bottom are angry, especially at how government and business leaders handled the radiation concerns after the nuclear reactor disasters.
"Japan has developed one of the most advanced commercial nuclear power programs in the world, and the country receives a third of its energy from nuclear power. The pressure to change could result in a tremendous economic shift. This push from average citizens shows that the role of social networks is changing, and it matters more than ever."
On March 11, an earthquake and tsunami damaged three nuclear reactors in Fukushima, and that led to radiation exposure in what is called history's second worst nuclear disaster. Aldrich, who wrote the 2008 book "Site Fights: Divisive Facilities and Civil Society in the Japan and the West," says that these nuclear power plants were historically located in small, population-dwindling coastal villages because the residents were in need of an economic resource and not likely to challenge the reactors' placements.
"Some communities received millions of dollars a year, which is a large amount for these small, struggling villages. But, they've learned there is a tremendous price tag for decommissioning reactors and the billions more required for cleanup have raised the costs of nuclear power production," he says. "These coastal communities and the surrounding areas are now asking what are they are willing to pay for these reactors compared to the economic gains they bring."
Aldrich is the author of the upcoming book "Building Resilience: Social Capital in Post-Disaster Recovery," which will be published in August. He is a fellow at the Mansfield Foundation US-Japan Network for the Future and an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow.
Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, 765-494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu
Source: Daniel Aldrich, daniel.aldrich@gmail.com. Aldrich is in Washington, D.C., and can be contacted by email to schedule phone or Skype interviews.
Note to Journalists: Daniel Aldrich, associate professor of political science, is presenting "The Past, Present and Future of the Fukushima Nuclear Crisis" from 10-11:30 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday (March 1) at the East-West Center, Sixth Floor Conference Room, 1819 L Street, NW, Washington, D.C. The event is sponsored by the East-West Center.