‘Global Hibakusha’ and the Invisible Victims of the U.S. Nuclear Testing in the Marshall Islands (original) (raw)

The anthropocene: Politik - economics - society - science, 2016

Abstract

Hibakusha is a Japanese term that refers to people who have been exposed to nuclear radiation. This chapter explores what a ‘Global Hibakusha’ might involve, through the example of invisible victims of United States’ testing of nuclear weapons conducted in the Pacific mid-last century. The chapter suggests that the native people’s exposure to radiation was fully predictable prior to the ‘Castle Bravo’ test, thus the effects cannot be considered ‘accidental’. The predictability of these effects are arguably the motivation behind the United States conducting the tests in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) rather than near to their homeland. The lingering effects of U.S. nuclear damages in the RMI drawing attention to the long-term effects of nuclear radiation that are often overlooked and which have important implications for ecology and peace. This chapter closes with a call for a new research field of ‘Global Hibakusha’ within the larger field of peace studies.

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