[site fights] Civil society capacity or jobs?

Moved from Great Tohoku Revival, 2011-7-4

In his book, Site Fights, Daniel Aldrich argues that "public bads" are sited where civil society is weakest, where local associations are least able to organize resistance. He blames Tokyo Electric Power's siting of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as an example. [p. 32]

However, there is a gap in his analysis. As a proxy for civil society capacity, Professor Aldrich uses the decline in employment in the primary sector between 1980 and 1995.

An exploration of why Fukushima Prefecture chose to host nuclear power and what its choices are after nuclear power

(Moved from http://greattohokurevival.blogspot.com/2011/06/fukushimas-choice-exploration-of-why.html , 2011-7-3)

Fifty years ago, villages along Fukushima Prefecture's coast decided to bid on Tokyo Electric Power Company's solicitation for sites to host its first nuclear power plant. Last Wednesday, almost a hundred days into its struggle to cope with one of histories biggest earthquakes, one of its biggest tsunamis, and its biggest nuclear energy accident, Fukushima's Recovery Commission decided to eliminate Fukushima's dependence on nuclear energy.

[site fights] Site Fights: Divisive Facilities and Civil Society in Japan and the West

Moved from Great Tohoku Revival, 2011-7-3

Shortly after the Great Tohoku Earthquake and tsunami precipitated the nuclear crisis unfolding in Fukushima, Daniel Aldrich was quoted in The New York Times. Immediately after reading that article, I ordered Prof. Aldrich's book Site Fights: Divisive Facilities and Civil Society in Japan and the West. With even a casual glance through this book, it is clear that it is must reading for anyone planning to participate in Tohoku's revival.

Tohoku's Nuclear Villages: Small, Unsophisticated and Rich

In his very timely book Site Fights, Daniel Aldrich describes at length the subsidies, both exposed and hidden, that are used to persuade and reward villages that host nuclear plants. Martin Fackler reports that in 2009 alone, Tokyo gave $1.15 billion for public works projects to communities that have electric plants.


Using data from the 2005 census and 2007 data for fiscal strength (http://www.e-stat.go.jp/SG1/estat/eStatTopPortal.do), I plotted fiscal strength versus population for 271 municipalities in Tohoku, excluding Akita and Yamagata Prefectures, but adding Ibaraki and Chiba Prefectures.