Duke University Press, 2020 Cloth: 978-1-4780-0994-8 | eISBN: 978-1-4780-1253-5 | Paper: 978-1-4780-1100-2 Library of Congress Classification HV623 2011.F85K67 2020
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK In Radiation and Revolution political theorist and anticapitalist activist Sabu Kohso uses the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster to illuminate the relationship between nuclear power, capitalism, and the nation-state. Combining an activist's commitment to changing the world with a theorist's determination to grasp the world in its complexity, Kohso outlines how the disaster is not just a pivotal event in postwar Japan; it represents the epitome of the capitalist-state mode of development that continues to devastate the planet's environment. Throughout, he captures the lived experiences of the disaster's victims, shows how the Japanese government's insistence on nuclear power embodies the constitution of its regime under the influence of US global strategy, and considers the future of a radioactive planet driven by nuclearized capitalism. As Kohso demonstrates, nuclear power is not a mere source of energy—it has become the organizing principle of the global order and the most effective way to simultaneously accumulate profit and govern the populace. For those who aspire to a world free from domination by capitalist nation-states, Kohso argues, the abolition of nuclear energy and weaponry is imperative.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Sabu Kohso is a writer, editor, translator, and activist and the author of several books in Japanese.
REVIEWS
“Writer, political activist, and translator Sabu Kohso provides a timely intervention into discussions of the catastrophic event that overwhelmed Japan's Fukushima Prefecture on March 11, 2011. Kohso has brilliantly captured both the sad singularity and complex generality of the event and the unyielding process of its global consequences. At the heart of Kohso's account lies a nuclear industry now worryingly indistinguishable from global capitalism's new lease on life.”
-- Harry Harootunian, author of The Unspoken as Heritage: The Armenian Genocide and Its Unaccounted Lives
“Turning the discussion of the Fukushima disaster and its ecological and social consequences into a reflection on the history of Japanese society and government from World War II to the present, Radiation and Revolution is a powerful, imaginative, and much-needed book.”
-- Silvia Federici, author of Beyond the Periphery of the Skin
“With regards to the creativity both of its content and its form, Radiation and Revolution constitutes a unique work, fulfilling Deleuze’s call for philosophy to invent ready-made concepts which could seize the singularity of reality. Kohso’s notions of ‘life-in-struggle’, ‘transmutations’ and his opposition between the ‘World’ and the ‘Earth’, will assuredly find echoes in other contexts, all marked by the radiation-like planetarization of politics.”
-- Philippe Blouin Marx and Philosophy Review of Books
"Comparing Fukushima to other nuclear incidents, such as Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, Kohso (who also goes by Kōso), a writer and an activist, posits that these disasters are symptomatic of another problem—that of authoritarian, capitalist power over Earth’s inhabitants, who live under persistent threat of catastrophe. The fleshing out of these ideas displays Kohso at his best, using careful research and interviews to create a compelling argument for confronting nuclear and other challenges with a global movement. . . . Recommended. Advanced undergraduates and graduate students."
-- J. M. Morri Choice
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue. Writing through Fukushima ix Introduction. Disaster/Catastrophe/Apocalypse 1 1. Transmutation of Powers 17 2. Catastrophic Nation 55 3. Apocalyptic Capitalism 87 4. Climate Change of the Struggle 113 Epilogue. Forget Japan 161 Notes 167 Bibliography 183 Index 191
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Duke University Press, 2020 Cloth: 978-1-4780-0994-8 eISBN: 978-1-4780-1253-5 Paper: 978-1-4780-1100-2
In Radiation and Revolution political theorist and anticapitalist activist Sabu Kohso uses the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster to illuminate the relationship between nuclear power, capitalism, and the nation-state. Combining an activist's commitment to changing the world with a theorist's determination to grasp the world in its complexity, Kohso outlines how the disaster is not just a pivotal event in postwar Japan; it represents the epitome of the capitalist-state mode of development that continues to devastate the planet's environment. Throughout, he captures the lived experiences of the disaster's victims, shows how the Japanese government's insistence on nuclear power embodies the constitution of its regime under the influence of US global strategy, and considers the future of a radioactive planet driven by nuclearized capitalism. As Kohso demonstrates, nuclear power is not a mere source of energy—it has become the organizing principle of the global order and the most effective way to simultaneously accumulate profit and govern the populace. For those who aspire to a world free from domination by capitalist nation-states, Kohso argues, the abolition of nuclear energy and weaponry is imperative.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Sabu Kohso is a writer, editor, translator, and activist and the author of several books in Japanese.
REVIEWS
“Writer, political activist, and translator Sabu Kohso provides a timely intervention into discussions of the catastrophic event that overwhelmed Japan's Fukushima Prefecture on March 11, 2011. Kohso has brilliantly captured both the sad singularity and complex generality of the event and the unyielding process of its global consequences. At the heart of Kohso's account lies a nuclear industry now worryingly indistinguishable from global capitalism's new lease on life.”
-- Harry Harootunian, author of The Unspoken as Heritage: The Armenian Genocide and Its Unaccounted Lives
“Turning the discussion of the Fukushima disaster and its ecological and social consequences into a reflection on the history of Japanese society and government from World War II to the present, Radiation and Revolution is a powerful, imaginative, and much-needed book.”
-- Silvia Federici, author of Beyond the Periphery of the Skin
“With regards to the creativity both of its content and its form, Radiation and Revolution constitutes a unique work, fulfilling Deleuze’s call for philosophy to invent ready-made concepts which could seize the singularity of reality. Kohso’s notions of ‘life-in-struggle’, ‘transmutations’ and his opposition between the ‘World’ and the ‘Earth’, will assuredly find echoes in other contexts, all marked by the radiation-like planetarization of politics.”
-- Philippe Blouin Marx and Philosophy Review of Books
"Comparing Fukushima to other nuclear incidents, such as Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, Kohso (who also goes by Kōso), a writer and an activist, posits that these disasters are symptomatic of another problem—that of authoritarian, capitalist power over Earth’s inhabitants, who live under persistent threat of catastrophe. The fleshing out of these ideas displays Kohso at his best, using careful research and interviews to create a compelling argument for confronting nuclear and other challenges with a global movement. . . . Recommended. Advanced undergraduates and graduate students."
-- J. M. Morri Choice
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue. Writing through Fukushima ix Introduction. Disaster/Catastrophe/Apocalypse 1 1. Transmutation of Powers 17 2. Catastrophic Nation 55 3. Apocalyptic Capitalism 87 4. Climate Change of the Struggle 113 Epilogue. Forget Japan 161 Notes 167 Bibliography 183 Index 191
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE