Cornell University Press
Site Fights: Divisive Facilities and Civil Society in Japan and the West
Key Metrics
- Daniel P Aldrich
- Cornell University Press
- Paperback
- 9780801476228
- 8.98 X 6.45 X 0.66 inches
- 0.83 pounds
- Business & Economics > Industries - General
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
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.
Author Bio
Daniel P Aldrich is a professor of political science, public policy and urban affairs and a Director of Security and Resilience Studies Program at Northeastern University.
An award winning author, Daniel Aldrich has published five books, more than sixty peer reviewed articles, and written op-eds for The New York Times, CNN, Asahi Shinbun, along with appearing on popular media outlets such as CNBC, MSNBC, NPR, and HuffPost. Aldrich has spent more than five years carrying out fieldwork in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East and his research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation, and the Abe Foundation.
Education
- Harvard University, Ph.D., Government 2005
- Harvard University, M.A., Government 2001
- University of California at Berkeley, M.A., Asian Studies 1998
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.A., Asian Studies 1996
Source: Northeastern University
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