Nuclear Waste Management and Environmental Justice in Taiwan.

Fan, Mei-Fang (2005) Nuclear Waste Management and Environmental Justice in Taiwan. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

This thesis examines environmental justice in the context of nuclear waste controversies on Orchid Island in Taiwan through the analysis of the differences between the Yami tribe and the Taiwanese migrants in their attitudes toward risks of the local nuclear waste repository and their understanding of the conception of environmental justice. The research methods adopted are focus groups research and archival analysis, supplemented by participant observation and interviews. The Orchid Island case reveals a far more intricate narrative than many of the existing literature on environmental justice, which often gives environmental justice a monodimensional interpretation and tends to view local community as homogenous. The Yami anti-nuclear waste movement manifests that problems of distribution inequity, lack of recognition and a limited participation in decision-making are interwoven in political and social processes, and disputes over nuclear waste problem between the Yami and Taiwanese groups also show the historical and socioeconomic complexity of environmental justice. The thesis concludes with the application of environmental pragmatism to environmental justice and nuclear waste dilemmas. Through a pragmatic approach, the Yami and Taiwanese environmental community could agree on ends or policies (e. g. a non-nuclear Taiwan, an improvement in monitoring the nuclear waste repository) without agreeing on ultimate values. It might help enhance mutual understanding and recognition, and facilitate intercultural alliance-building for dealing with nuclear waste problems.