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The disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was an event of obviously transnational significance-not only in the airborne particulates it deposited across the Northern hemisphere, but in the political and social repercussions it set off well beyond the Soviet bloc. Focusing on the cases of Great Britain and France, this innovative study explores the discourses and narratives that arose in the wake of the incident among both state and nonstate actors. It gives a thorough account of the stereotypes, framings, and "othering" strategies that shaped Western European nations' responses to the disaster, and of their efforts to come to terms with its long-term consequences up to the present day.
List of contents
List of Abbreviations
Introduction Chapter 1. 1986-88: Direct Reactions and Early Narratives
Chapter 2. 1989-2005: Chernobyl Memory in the Making
Chapter 3. 2006: The Chernobyl 'Renaissance' within the 'Nuclear Renaissance'
Conclusion Epilogue Bibliography
Index
About the author
Karena Kalmbach is Assistant Professor in History at Eindhoven University of Technology. She received her doctorate from the European University Institute in Florence for a dissertation that subsequently was awarded the 2015 Book Prize for Young Scholars from the International Committee for the History of Technology.
Summary
Focusing on the cases of Great Britain and France, this innovative study explores the discourses and narratives that arose in the wake of the incident among both state and nonstate actors. It gives a thorough account of the strategies that shaped Western European responses to the disaster as well as nuclear policy up to the present day.
