MACMILLAN Planetary Atmospheres and Urban Society After Fukushima

This collection examines the event of Fukushima in Japan in terms of urban sociology and cultural politics to portray the triple catastrophe of March 2011 as both a planetary event and a dual economic and environmental crisis which indelibly marked Japan and the wider global community. The contributors examine how this new situation has been expressed in particular cultural forms (literature, film), political discourses and urban everyday life in Tokyo and Fukushima, arguing for an imperative need to redefine the national frame of analysis in terms of the concept of the planetary. Building on recent debates in ecocriticism, Planetary Atmospheres and Urban Life After Fukushima deconstructs the spatial logic of containment that reduces the event of Fukushima to a place-bound object to instead reinscribe this event within an open narrative of the planetary. This we believe will allow us to redefine our topologies of attachment to local places beside national discourses of unity, resilience and global strategies of risk management, and open the way to a radical rethink of Japan’s cultural politics of Japan after March 2011. From the Back Cover This collection examines the events of Fukushima in Japan in terms of urban sociology and cultural politics, both as a planetary event and a dual economic and environmental crisis which indelibly marked Japan and the wider global community. It considers what cultural forms can express this situation, problematizing the national frame of analysis in terms of the concept of the planetary. Building on recent debates in ecocriticism and debating the spatial logic of containment that reduces the event of Fukushima to a place-bound object argues for a close-reading of cultural texts and local urban practices in Fukushima Japan to articulate different narratives of the planetary and redefine our topologies of attachment to local places beside national discourses of unity, resilience and global strategies of risk management, opening the way to a rethink of Japan’s cultural politics of Japan after March 2011.  About the Author Christophe Thouny is Assistant Professor in the Center for Global Communication Strategies at The University of Tokyo, Japan. His research interests focus on the modern urban experience in Japan in relation with nationalism, globalization, and environmental problems.  Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto is Professor at the School of International Liberal Studies at Waseda University, Japan.