Japan’s Nuclear Imaginaries Before and After Fukushima: Visions of Science, Technology, and Society

Abstract

Two recent insights regarding social imaginaries are of particular relevance in thinking about the Fukushima disaster and its aftermath. First, social imaginaries are consequential for social resilience. Second, imaginaries play a significant role in the way a society addresses science and technology. In light of these insights, the chapter explores nuclear imaginaries in Japan before and after Fukushima, and presents several key historical factors that shaped such imaginaries in the lasting manner. It presents how Japan’s nuclear imaginaries have persistently embraced certain ideals of science and technology, and excluded people subject to radiation risks. The chapter concludes by calling for explicit engagement with our nuclear imaginaries, in terms of social resilience, and also as an arena where we can explore more democratic approaches to science and technology. Such engagement is also consequential to larger visions of society.