Power Struggles: the Strategies and Tactics of the Anti-Nuclear Movement in Contemporary Tokyo Alexander James Brown University of Wollongong
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2015 Power struggles: the strategies and tactics of the anti-nuclear movement in contemporary Tokyo Alexander James Brown University of Wollongong Recommended Citation Brown, Alexander James, Power struggles: the strategies and tactics of the anti-nuclear movement in contemporary Tokyo, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong, 2015. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/4512 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] School of Humanities and Social Inquiry Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts Power Struggles: The Strategies and Tactics of the Anti-nuclear Movement in Contemporary Tokyo Alexander James Brown This thesis is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Wollongong 2015 ABSTRACT In this thesis I explore the strategies and tactics of the anti-nuclear movement in the Japanese capital Tokyo after the Fukushima nuclear disaster of March 2011. A little over a year later the anti-nuclear movement had grown to become the largest social movement in the archipelago in more than half a century. The compound effects of the earthquake and tsunami of 11 March 2011 and the nuclear accident at Fukushima intensified existing dissatisfaction not only with the nuclear industry but with the decaying institutions of Japan’s capitalist developmental state. In this thesis I use autonomist Marxist perspectives to situate the disaster against the backdrop of the breakdown of capitalist developmentalism and the transition to a post-industrial society. The image of the smouldering nuclear reactors in Fukushima reminded Tokyo residents of the way urban life in the developmental state had come to depend on the exploitation of the rural periphery for resources such as the cheap electricity generated in the nuclear power plants. This thesis is distinctive in its focus on the role of urban space in the anti-nuclear protest movement in Japan after Fukushima. I draw on the field of critical urban studies to examine the nature of contentious politics in a post-industrial society through the lens of the anti-nuclear movement in Tokyo. In five detailed case studies, I describe the way anti-nuclear activists staged their opposition to nuclear power in the streets of the metropolis. Activists held carnivalesque street protests to express their emotional responses to the nuclear disaster; developed an infrastructure of activist spaces to support their protests; strengthened their relationships with one another; and experimented with new forms of democratic politics. These interventions transformed the order of public space in the city and reclaimed it as a place where citizens could participate in politics. The protests in 2011 and 2012 took place in the context of global uprisings such as Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring. I place the anti-nuclear movement in Tokyo within this context. I argue that the diverse tactical interventions staged by anti-nuclear activists in Tokyo suggest a wider strategic vision of the city as a space for creative self-expression, sustainable livelihoods, strong communities and grassroots democracy. CERTIFICATION I, Alexander James Brown, declare that this thesis, submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy, in the School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. Alexander James Brown 29 June 2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS When I set out to write a doctoral dissertation in June 2010 I had little idea of just how much work would be involved. While I lay claim to the authorship of this dissertation and take responsibility for any errors it may contain, it could not have been written without the care and support of many people. My primary supervisor Vera Mackie has been a constant source of support and encouragement, from the initial formulation of my research proposal through the painstaking editing of the final draft. Amidst many passionate debates over political theory, Japanese history and rhetorical style, Vera guided me to develop my own voice as a writer. My co-supervisor Mark McLelland made many pertinent comments which were critical in shaping the final shape of the dissertation. I also thank Matthew Allen for assisting me to define the direction of this research during the initial stages of my candidacy. From October 2011 until March 2013 I was fortunate enough to receive a research student scholarship from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan which enabled me to spend 18 months at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo. There I benefited enormously from the support of my sponsor, Professor Machimura Takashi, and the members of his graduate student seminar and his research group, the Study Group on Infrastructure and Society. I would particularly like to thank Mori Keisuke, Mori Sayaka, Yamamoto Tadahito, Iwadate Yutaka, Tan Uichi and Satō Keiichi. I also owe many thanks to the members of the Autonomism reading group: Shibuya Nozomu, Suzuki Sonomi, Odawara Rin, Tokunaga Risa, Robin Weichhert, Yoshida Yutaka, Oikawa Keiko and Higuchi Takurō. I spent countless hours debating sociological theory, autonomist Marxism, and the politics of the anti-nuclear movement with Takurō and Keiko, with whom I shared a house during my stay in Kunitachi. Their love and support made Kunitachi my home away from home. Many wonderful librarians at the University of Wollongong, Hitotsubashi University, the University of Hawai`i at Manoa, the National Diet Library in Japan and the National Library of Australia assisted me with tracking down sources in both English and Japanese. I was fortunate to receive Postgraduate Support funding from the Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts here at Wollongong which enabled me to spend two weeks in the Takazawa Collection in the library of the University of Hawai`i at Manoa. Japan Studies Librarian Tokiko Y. Bazzell and her staff assisted me with accessing this unique collection of primary source materials on post-war Japanese social movements. Thanks to a Japan Study Grant from the National Library of Australia I was able to spend a month working in that institution’s Asian Reading Room. There I enjoyed the support of Mayumi Shinozaki, Senior Librarian in the Japanese Unit, and her team. The various reading groups I have taken part in during my candidacy in Wollongong contributed immeasurably to the development of the ideas in this thesis. I discussed Hardt and Negri, communism and the politics of love with Nick Southall, Michelle Collis, Claire Johnston, Shirin Demirdag, Mark Gawne, Ian Miles, John Rainford, Lindsay Hawkins, Justin Westgate, Nick Skilton and Melanie Barnes. Particular thanks go to Nick, Ian and John, who carefully read the manuscript and offered detailed comments. John also kindly proofread the final draft. It is hard to find words to describe the profound influence Nick Southall has had on my personal and intellectual growth. I thank him for his comradeship through 16 years of struggle both within and without the walls of academe. I also took part in a reading group on Human Rights as part of Vera’s Future Fellowship research with Kirsti Rawstron, Marisa Ramos Gonçalves, Amanda Anderson, Paola Miranda, Vicki Crinis, Pham Thi Thanh Nga and Deborah Mayersen. My Japanese language reading ability improved greatly thanks to a small reading group consisting of Vera Mackie, Emma Dalton, Kirsti Rawstron, Khursten Santos, Martin Veres and Helen Kilpatrick. I have enjoyed all of these reading groups immensely. They have convinced me that the best way to engage seriously with a text is as part of a collective. Without the emotional support provided by family and friends I could not have maintained the five years of concerted effort necessary to complete this project. My parents John and Katherine Brown, my sisters Anna and Shelley Brown and my grandparents Ruth and Max Barry have always encouraged and supported me along the often unorthodox pathways I have chosen through life. Special thanks must go to my partner Melanie Barnes. I salute her patience and perseverance as I expounded nightly and at great length on the intricacies of Japanese political history. As a socialist and an intellectual she has challenged me to develop my ideas. As a lover and a friend she has encouraged me to keep my intellectual work in perspective while we navigate together the difficult but rewarding struggle of life outside the academy. No-one deserves more thanks than the millions of people whose names I do not know but who have taken to the streets of Tokyo and cities around the world to try and make this world a better place in which to live. They are my inspiration and I have tried through this project to pay tribute to their example. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ......................................................................................................................... i Certification .................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................