You are invited to the next monthly meeting of the social science dissertation workshop on February 28 about "Public Participation in Japan's Nuclear Energy Policy Forming
Process."* Our presenter is Patrick White, who after living 16 years in Japan (half of them working at an anti-nuke NGO) returned to Australia to pursue a PhD in Japanese Studies at the University of Adelaide. His dissertation in progress centers on the role of the public in post-Fukushima nuclear policy making.

The DPJ government promised a national dialogue, much as the LDP government had sponsored a series of broad "round table conferences" following the 1995 sodium leak and fire at the Monju Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor. One of Patrick's questions is whether the current effort amounts to anything more than the previous one did (a low bar, one might say). A more general social science question for him is how "process variables" affect policy outcomes, and what sorts of theoretical frameworks can help us figure that out.

As usual, I appreciate hearing if you are coming.

John Campbell

*Meetings of the Shaken Social Science Dissertation Workshop start at
12 pm on Thursdays and go to 1:30 and sometimes beyond.
The Institute
of Social Science provides coffee and tea and you are welcome to bring lunch. The location is a seminar room on the 5th floor in the Akamon General Research (Sougou Kenkyuu) Building. The building is down a little passage to the right after you come through Akamon, or you can go through the grounds of Ito Hall off Hongou Doori.
It is Bldg 38 on
this map:

http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/about/documents/Hongo_CampusMap_E.pdf