Series | Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies
Edited book | New Steps in Japanese Studies
Chapter | Bio-Politics over Radiation
Bio-Politics over Radiation
From Hiroshima, Chernobyl to Fukushima
Abstract
‘Bio-politics’, according to Foucault, concerns natural environment and bodies, which are both ‘ungovernable.’ Problems regarding radiation risk are typical problems of governability; radiation can contaminate the whole environment and can eventually damage genes and destroy the self-reproductive capacity of biological bodies. Since radiation can be neither seen nor sensed, problems relating to the so-called ‘radiation exposure safety level’ become political problems concerning the scientific construction of invisible reality and the definition of its meanings for human health. We shed light on the concrete ways bio-politics operates in the nuclear age, running through from Hiroshima, Chernobyl to Fukushima, with an eye to justice as the security of biological bodies.
Submitted: March 8, 2016 | Accepted: Dec. 9, 2016 | Language: en
Keywords Safety Level • Bio-Politics • Radiation • Risk • Justice
Copyright © 2017 Kazashi Nobuo. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.14277/6969-152-2/CFJS-5-9
