Suchergebnisse

This article looks at how Belarus, the most affected state by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, discursively constructs cooperation with foreign countries that provide help in combating the consequences of the tragedy. It shows that different representations of foreign actors handling the prolonged consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster contribute to developing new friendships (with Japan), questioning existing cooperation (with Russia), and softening old (with Germany) and current (with Europe) conflicts in Belarus. The article makes a contribution to three debates in identity literature in constructivist International Relations: (a) identity and foreign policy; (b) the 'voice' and agency of the 'Rest'; and (c) identity and difference. It is argued that when small non-Western states (help receivers) construct an ethical identity of bigger Western and non-Western states (help providers), they challenge the existing temporal and spatial identities of old strangers, enemies, and friends and create a new platform for conflict and cooperation.

The Fukushima nuclear catastrophe of March 2011 created a boom in independent radioactivity monitoring among citizens in Japan. Drawing on three case studies of monitoring stations in TakyO, Kanagawa, and Fukushima, this paper analyzes citizens' practices of monitoring radioactively contaminated food from the perspective of citizen science (CS). It explores if and how the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe challenges lay-expert relations, and assumes that there is a difference between expert and lay knowledge. It does so not because the terms "lay" and "expert" are static features of those individuals involved in science, but rather because of the different contexts in which knowledge production takes place. The paper argues that lay-expert relations in Japan have changed to a certain degree since Fukushima, because independent monitoring was first initiated by lay people - thereby empowering nonprofessional scientists. At the same time, independent monitoring offers professional scientists new contexts for the production of "alternative knowledge." Although it is not included in the Japanese government's policymaking decisions, this alternative knowledge has a transformative potential because it is employed by civil society organizations and the antinuclear movement in Japan. Independent monitoring therefore has a (perhaps unintended) subversive character, and should be considered when evaluating the transformative potential of independent monitoring organizations and when talking about civil society and advocacy with regard to scientific issues. (Asien/GIGA)