Nonscalability of ‘citizen science’ in post-Fukushima Japan: Unpacking understandings and practices of Citizen Radiation Measuring Organizations

With the expansion of citizen science in research and policy across the world, questions arise regarding the definition of the concept, which illustrate that citizen science can take various shapes in different contexts. Yet, an account of citizen science experienced through the eyes of citizens remains unexplored and undertheorized. This article aims to address this lacuna by exploring and discussing understandings of ‘citizen science’ with members of Japanese citizen radiation measuring organizations. The aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident caused an upsurge of citizen initiatives in Japan, with citizens assessing radioactive contamination in food, soil, air and humans. This paper examines their practices and understandings of citizen science (shimin kagaku in Japanese), not with the aim of creating a single definition of citizen science after Fukushima but to develop ‘nonscalable’ interpretations of citizen science that account for the societal and historical Japanese context.

Jaar van publicatie:2022

BOF-keylabel:ja

IOF-keylabel:ja

BOF-publication weight:6

CSS-citation score:1

Auteurs:International

Authors from:Higher Education

Toegankelijkheid:Open