Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies

Collana | Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies
Miscellanea | New Steps in Japanese Studies
Capitolo | 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. 


Open access | Peer reviewed

Presentato: 08 Marzo 2016 | Accettato: 09 Dicembre 2016 | Lingua: en

Keywords Safety LevelBio-PoliticsJusticeRadiationRisk


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