The antinuclear power movement in India after the Fukushima disaster: the case of Koodankulam

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article shows how the international nuclear disaster in Fukushima affected the antinuclear movement in Koodankulam by using the cross-national diffusion model proposed by Kriesi, Koopmans, Duyvendak and Giugni (1995) . It examines the impact of the international disaster on the antinuclear movement and its subsequent expansion in terms of protest events and organizational trajectories. It also describes the new participants and actors in this antinuclear power issue. The research questions are addressed through archives, handbills, unpublished documents, and semi-structured interviews. I argue that diffusion of information and domestic opportunities helped the antinuclear groups erect a protest camp that offered manufactured vulnerability. This induced several meso and micro level social movement organizations and political parties to join the antinuclear movement, leading to expansion at the organizational level and the formation of coalitions. Further, the participation of newly joined social movement organizations and political parties in the mobilization helped the movement expand its protest events and led to an increase in the level of contention. The study contributes to the study of antinuclear movements and cross-national diffusion.