|
|
|
| home
| about IDEAs | contact
| archives |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
The
JSPE expresses its deep condolences to the victims of
the Tohoku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake and the giant tsunami
it triggered. We sympathize with those in the disaster
area who are still in distress and appreciate the efforts
of those engaged in the disaster response, relief, and
recovery in that area. Further, we express our deep
concern over the ongoing accident at the First Fukushima
Nuclear Power Plant; it's spreading of radioactive contamination,
and the flaws in the present system of nuclear power
plants that the accident has revealed.
The JSPE decided to devote a special plenary session
to the problems raised by this disaster on the second
morning of the 59th JSPE Annual Conference, which is
to be held on September 17 and 18 at the Ikebukuro campus
of the Rikkyo University, Tokyo (for details http://www.jspe.gr.jp/drupal/en_cfp2011).
Yasuo Goto (Fukushima Univ.), Koji Morioka (Kansai Univ.),
and Kiichiro Yagi (Setsunan Univ.) were nominated as
its organizers.
In the proposed plenary session we plan to discuss the
problems jointly based on all the comments and proposals
that are directed to the organizers of this session.
We hope that this discussion will be a step toward the
realization of a new concept in the activities of JSPE.
We therefore welcome all opinions presented in the spirit
of social science, from members as well as nonmembers,
for this special plenary session. Please send your opinion
within 200 to 400 words to the JSPE (Jspecice@jspe.gr.jp)
by 10 June.
Even though the scale of the earthquake was well beyond
anything anticipated, we as social scientists cannot
set our judgment aside by saying that this was an "unprecedented
natural disaster." Concerning the temblor alone,
a series of questions promptly emerges: Was sufficient
forecasting, warning and prevention provided? Wasn't
a more effective relief system that would have avoided
the loss of information at the early stage possible?
What was the reason for the vulnerability of the lifeline
revealed by this disaster? Has an appropriate system
of aid and recovery been established? What form should
the economic support for relief, maintenance and recovery
take? As for the accident at the nuclear power plant
in particular, we cannot avoid asking whether the system
and policies that have promoted the use of nuclear energy
thus far lie behind the occurrence of the disaster and
the apparent delay and helplessness in efforts to deal
with it. Nuclear energy policy in Japan has been promoted
by a closed circle of the government and the so-called
"atomic lobby" of politicians, agents of the
atomic energy industry including certain scientists
and journalists. Along with the measures taken for disaster
prevention and response, the system of policy formation
as well should be placed under comprehensive and critical
examination. Further, we need plans for the maintenance
of industry and daily life under the current condition
of electric power shortage, for recovery and its concomitant
economic burdens, as well as the future renovation of
our industrial economy and finances.
As the Japanese term for economy, or keizai, was derived
from a classic term for "managing society and salvaging
the life of the people" (keisei saimin), political
economy as a discipline is concerned with relieving
society and the lives of each of its members from distress
and restoring their stability. Political economy as
a social science emerged when this task shifted from
being one of the arts of rule to a constituent of the
self-knowledge of civil society. We believe that all
of the researchers who together make up the JSPE are
in accord in seeking to deal with this disaster from
the viewpoint of social scientists, and to consider
the problems associated with this disaster as significant
challenges for the development of the theory of political
economy.
Executive Board of the Japan
Society of Political Economy
April 16, 2011
April
29, 2011. |
|
|
|