Vor und nach »Fukushima« : Dynamiken sozialer Protestbewegungen in Japan seit der Jahrtausendwende

Before and After »Fukushima«: Dynamics of Social Protest Movements in Japan since the Turn of the Century

The triple catastrophe on March 11, 2011 was followed by the global Occupy movement; together, both phenomena seem to have made a significant change in Japanese civil society. Citizens of all social strata took part in mass protest and other activities on an unprecedented scale. Nonetheless, the new dynamics are not entirely new due to the experience of a tragic disaster. The change was already underway since the late 1990s, due to global transformations of work cycles and everyday lives, as well as newly formed social and political movements which have gradually become transnationally connected. Furthermore, this includes the formation, empowerment, and connectivity of a newly emerging civil society. In retrospect, the new movements consisting of NGOs, activists and academics were already active since the infamous Battle of Seattle in 1999, and this article shall give a revaluation of the coalitions, networks and movements as well as an overview of newer forms of action and protest. In relation to new and alternative life and work cycles and styles, these protest movements play an important role as a transnational movement and simultaneously can give a practical example for the transformation of social predicaments. This article will present actors, topics, networks, and movements and indicates how and to which degree today’s »post-3/11« protest movements have already begun to emerge as a social and alternative movement in Japan.