Embodying the nuclear: The moral struggle of family care in postfallout Japan

dc.contributor.author

Cho, Jieun

dc.date.accessioned

2024-07-26T12:59:09Z

dc.date.available

2024-07-26T12:59:09Z

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<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>This paper examines the moral struggle of family care by focusing on parents’ efforts to raise “healthy” children in irradiated environments of Fukushima following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Drawing on fieldwork between 2017 and 2020, it explores the lived experiences of primary caretakers, mostly mothers, as they strive to cultivate “health” in their children while negotiating conflicting logics of radiological exposure, risk assessment, and gendered childcare. Central to this endeavor is what I call an ethical labor of “balancing:” the daily negotiation between protecting children and allowing them to live fully in risk‐laden environments. Emphasizing intercorporeal and interpersonal aspects of embodied care, the paper examines the nuanced ways in which three mothers recalibrate notions of health, personhood, and responsibility to safeguard their children's everyday lives. Such notions of “health” carry significant implications for family dynamics amid the uncertainties of postdisaster life. By highlighting the critical role of family care in potentially stigmatizing environments, the paper advocates for developing frameworks that address the real‐life complexities of making life in an increasingly compromised world.</jats:p>

dc.identifier.issn

0091-2131

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1548-1352

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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/31294

dc.language

en

dc.publisher

Wiley

dc.relation.ispartof

Ethos

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10.1111/etho.12440

dc.rights.uri

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0

dc.title

Embodying the nuclear: The moral struggle of family care in postfallout Japan

dc.type

Journal article

duke.contributor.orcid

Cho, Jieun|0000-0003-2499-4671

pubs.organisational-group

Duke

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Staff

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