Anthropologist on the 3/11 Disasters
19/09/11 08:53
The journal “Cultural Anthropology” has a great series of short articles edited by David Slater --
3.11 POLITICS IN DISASTER JAPAN: FEAR AND ANGER, POSSIBILITY AND HOPE Guest Editor: David Slater (Faculty of Liberal Arts, Sophia University, Tokyo)
On March 11th, 2011, the largest recorded earthquake in Japan’s history rocked the country. Within minutes, a tsunami that reached 30 meters in places was heading to the northeast coast into Tohoku. Boats, building and whole towns were wiped out in a matter of minutes. More than 23,000 people have been reported dead or are still missing, and as many as 40,000 are displaced, living in shelters or temporary housing. Among the effects is the destabilization of the nuclear reactors. Since March, the danger zones have progressively been expanded to as far away from the reactor as 25 miles, and although new areas are being added even today, many claim that the Japanese government is underestimating the danger. Today, it is unclear if and when broad segments of Tohoku will ever be safe.
The horrific experience of natural crisis has been compounded by repeated political failures—to gather, analyze and release relevant information; to provide relief response for those victims in Tohoku in a timely and effective way; and to insure that the danger of radiation containment and leakage has been accurately and fully represented. In fact, it has been the threat of radiation that has allowed many to mount the critique of the handling of earthquake and tsunami, to see the political expediency and the often grotesque protection of capitalism in the face of everyday needs of the people.
These failures have given rise to a critique from a citizenry that is often thought of as passive, if not always content. The scope of the disaster in Tohoku and the threat of radiation to the rest of the Japan, and even outside of its borders, have provided a platform for many voices and positions to find common ground and to speak in collective voices. Emerging are themes of shared concern such as ecological sustainability, corporate and state responsibility, and the survival of citizens and society in times of increasing precariousness for everyone, not just those in Tohoku. This convergence has brought together Fukushima farmers and Tokyo housewives, school children and senior citizens from the ‘old left,’ leaders from industry and the government but also labor unions and activism. At the center are “autonomous” activists—young, dispersed, do-it-yourselfers—who had been dismissed by the country as too inward-looking and self-absorbed: the same young people who have been at the forefront of much of the relief and volunteer efforts. In Japan, a country with a history of leftist fragmentation in the face of a dominant and fully-entrenched conservative right, the range and momentum of this moment is a remarkable turn. That this had to come from such tragedy is as sad as it is surprising.
More here.
3.11 POLITICS IN DISASTER JAPAN: FEAR AND ANGER, POSSIBILITY AND HOPE Guest Editor: David Slater (Faculty of Liberal Arts, Sophia University, Tokyo)
On March 11th, 2011, the largest recorded earthquake in Japan’s history rocked the country. Within minutes, a tsunami that reached 30 meters in places was heading to the northeast coast into Tohoku. Boats, building and whole towns were wiped out in a matter of minutes. More than 23,000 people have been reported dead or are still missing, and as many as 40,000 are displaced, living in shelters or temporary housing. Among the effects is the destabilization of the nuclear reactors. Since March, the danger zones have progressively been expanded to as far away from the reactor as 25 miles, and although new areas are being added even today, many claim that the Japanese government is underestimating the danger. Today, it is unclear if and when broad segments of Tohoku will ever be safe.
The horrific experience of natural crisis has been compounded by repeated political failures—to gather, analyze and release relevant information; to provide relief response for those victims in Tohoku in a timely and effective way; and to insure that the danger of radiation containment and leakage has been accurately and fully represented. In fact, it has been the threat of radiation that has allowed many to mount the critique of the handling of earthquake and tsunami, to see the political expediency and the often grotesque protection of capitalism in the face of everyday needs of the people.
These failures have given rise to a critique from a citizenry that is often thought of as passive, if not always content. The scope of the disaster in Tohoku and the threat of radiation to the rest of the Japan, and even outside of its borders, have provided a platform for many voices and positions to find common ground and to speak in collective voices. Emerging are themes of shared concern such as ecological sustainability, corporate and state responsibility, and the survival of citizens and society in times of increasing precariousness for everyone, not just those in Tohoku. This convergence has brought together Fukushima farmers and Tokyo housewives, school children and senior citizens from the ‘old left,’ leaders from industry and the government but also labor unions and activism. At the center are “autonomous” activists—young, dispersed, do-it-yourselfers—who had been dismissed by the country as too inward-looking and self-absorbed: the same young people who have been at the forefront of much of the relief and volunteer efforts. In Japan, a country with a history of leftist fragmentation in the face of a dominant and fully-entrenched conservative right, the range and momentum of this moment is a remarkable turn. That this had to come from such tragedy is as sad as it is surprising.
More here.