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Illuminating the Life of Dr. Helen Caldicott

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Illuminating the Life of Dr. Helen Caldicott LEADERSHIP FOR SOCIAL CHANGE: ILLUMINATING THE LIFE OF DR. HELEN CALDICOTT LEAH HANES A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership and Change Program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January, 2015 This is to certify that the Dissertation entitled: LEADERSHIP FOR SOCIAL CHANGE: DR. HELEN CALDICOTT: THE UNTOLD STORY prepared by Leah Hanes is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership and Change Approved by: Carolyn Kenny, Ph.D., Chair date Laurien Alexandre, Ph.D., Committee Member date Elaine Gale ,Ph.D., Committee Member date Timothy Mousseau, Ph.D., External Reader date Copyright 2015 Leah Hanes All rights reserved Acknowledgments I would like to thank Dr. Carolyn Kenny for her ongoing support and encouragement, Dr. Laurien Alexandre, who nurtured the idea through to my chosen methodology, and Dr. Elaine Gale, whose wisdom as a writer gave me confidence in my own voice. Dr. Paula Caplan has played an important role in the development of my dissertation topic and approach to my research. Nancy Fawcett sent me to Antioch University Los Angeles in the first place armed with the confidence I needed to apply. Dr. Albert Erdynast encouraged me to pursue this degree. Finally, the faculty and students at Antioch University Los Angeles for their ongoing support. i Abstract This dissertation is a biographical study of the life of Dr. Helen Caldicott that details her life and work over the years from 1997 to 2014. The history of her significant role in the end of the Cold War and her influence in public opinion regarding nuclear power and nuclear arms has been well-documented through many books, films, and articles as well as her own autobiography up to this twenty-year-period. My study will help to fill the gap in her most recent life. In particular, I will explore the impact of her activism on society and her personal life in this period. Research methods include interviews with Dr. Caldicott, interviews with her collaborators, archival material, and deep reflection of the researcher. I am interested in what Dr. Caldicott understands now, about her work and her life, that may not have been apparent to her twenty years ago when she wrote her autobiography A Desperate Passion and was in the middle of her effort to educate a population about pending nuclear disaster. The electronic version of this Dissertation is at AURA, http://aura.antioch.edu/etds/ and OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd ii Table of Contents Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................ i Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Situating the Researcher ..................................................................................................... 6 Background on Dr. Helen Caldicott .................................................................................... 9 Definition of Whistle-Blowing ......................................................................................... 11 Profile of the Literature and “the Gap” in the Research Literature .................................. 13 Purpose of the Research .................................................................................................... 14 Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 15 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 16 Summary of Chapters ....................................................................................................... 18 Literature Review .......................................................................................................................... 20 Gender Differences and Whistle-Blowing ........................................................................ 21 Research on Gender and Ethics ........................................................................................ 30 The Ethical Challenges in the Nuclear Industry During Dr. Caldicott’s Activism .......... 31 Chernobyl—The Medical Realities .................................................................................. 32 Fukushima: Three Years Later ........................................................................................... 34 Activism as Leadership ..................................................................................................... 37 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 50 The Research Questions .................................................................................................... 50 The Research Method ....................................................................................................... 50 iii Ethical Considerations ...................................................................................................... 53 Qualitative Process ............................................................................................................ 53 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 59 Interviews .......................................................................................................................... 59 Data Analysis/Interpretation ............................................................................................. 60 Results of the Study ...................................................................................................................... 63 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 63 Dr. Helen Caldicott First Interview June 29, 2014 ........................................................... 65 Maggie Gundersen Interview August 14, 2014 ................................................................ 74 Arnie Gundersen Interview August 15, 2014 ................................................................... 79 Dr. William Heidbrink Interview July 23, 2014 ............................................................... 85 Dr. Helen Caldicott Second Interview August 17, 2014 .................................................. 88 Focus Group Interviews .................................................................................................... 92 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 97 Implications for Leadership and Change .................................................................................... 125 Appendix………………………………………………………………………………………..134 Appendix A ................................................................................................................................. 138 Appendix B ................................................................................................................................. 140 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................ 145 iv 1 Introduction My dissertation is a biographical study of Dr. Caldicott’s life and influence during the years from 1997 when her autobiography A Desperate Passion, was published and 2014. I examine these twenty years considering character, motivations, and the style of her leadership through in-depth interviews and report on what is evident in the body of work by and about Dr. Caldicott. This examination will be centered on her impact on the nuclear debate and the impact of the debate on her personal life. It will explore whether gender had a place in Dr. Caldicott’s approach and commitment. The research addressed in this dissertation is meant to illuminate Dr. Caldicott’s story rather than predict anything about activism, Dr. Caldicott, or the nuclear industry. For the purposes of this dissertation, leadership refers to leadership that evolves from a passionate, personal, and structured commitment to an issue or cause. Viewed through this lens, the leadership position of an individual is determined by the stance they take and then by those who choose to follow. In their book Studying Leadership, Jackson and Parry put it this way, “Leadership is a function of the whole situation. It is leader identity, leader behavior, follower identity, sociocultural context” (34). These authors go on to describe leadership even more simply, noting, “Certain personalities lend themselves more to demonstrating leadership than others. For example, a person who is organized, reliable and ambitious (high in consciousness) is more likely to be seen as a leader than someone who is unreliable and careless” (35). The deeply committed leader is also often a reluctant leader—a leader who has sacrificed, paid a high price, lost a career, and often more as a result of standing up and standing
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