Site Fights : : Divisive Facilities and Civil Society in Japan and the West / / Daniel P. Aldrich.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Cornell University Press Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Aldrich, Daniel P.,
• Place / Publishing House: Ithaca, NY : : Cornell University Press, , [2011]; ©2011
• Year of Publication: 2011
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (272 p.) :; 17 charts/graphs, 1 line drawing

One of the most vexing problems for governments is building controversial facilities that serve the needs of all citizens but have adverse consequences for host communities. Policymakers must decide not only where to locate often unwanted projects but also what methods to use when interacting with opposition groups. In Site Fights, Daniel P. Aldrich gathers quantitative evidence from close to five hundred municipalities across Japan to show that planners deliberately seek out acquiescent and unorganized communities for such facilities in order to minimize conflict. When protests arise over nuclear power plants, dams, and airports, agencies regularly rely on the coercive powers of the modern state, such as land expropriation and police repression. Only under pressure from civil society do policymakers move toward financial incentives and public relations campaigns. Through fieldwork and interviews with bureaucrats and activists, Aldrich illustrates these dynamics with case studies from Japan, France, and the United States. The incidents highlighted in Site Fights stress the importance of developing engaged civil society even in the absence of crisis, thereby making communities both less attractive to planners of controversial projects and more effective at resisting future threats.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Tables and Figures -- Preface -- Abbreviations -- Introduction: Site Fights and Policy Tools -- 1. Picking Sites -- 2. A Logic of Tool Choice -- 3. Occasional Turbulence: Airport Siting in Japan and France -- 4. Dam the Rivers: Siting Water Projects in Japan and France -- 5. Trying to Change Hearts and Minds: Japanese Nuclear Power Plant Siting -- 6. David versus Goliath: French Nuclear Power Plant Siting -- Conclusion: Areas for Future Investigation -- Appendix 1: Data Sources -- Appendix 2: Methodological Details -- Appendix 3: Interviewees -- Periodicals and News Services -- References -- Index