Posthumanist Perspectives and the Chernobyl Disaster: Dances of Agency, Temporal Emergence, and Disaster Risk Management

Owen Abbott

Posthumanist Perspectives and the Chernobyl Disaster: Dances of Agency, Temporal Emergence, and Disaster Risk Management

Sociology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This article applies the philosophical perspective of posthumanism to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. A posthumanist perspective attempts to break with the notion of human exceptionalism by recognising the performative agency of the non-human. It is maintained that such an approach is necessary to understanding how the disaster occurred in the first place, the calamitous initial responses the disaster, and its long-term consequence – including the environmental restoration that has occurred in the exclusion zone. Indeed, it is argued that much of the previous literature on the disaster takes the perspective of human exceptionalism, which has led to a failure to accurately interpret how the disaster unfolded and how it continues to emerge.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	231-250
Number of pages	20
Journal	International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters
Volume	34
Issue number	2
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2016

Keywords

Chernobyl Nuclear Accident
Posthumanism
Non-human agency
Temporal emergence

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Abbott, O. (2016). Posthumanist Perspectives and the Chernobyl Disaster: Dances of Agency, Temporal Emergence, and Disaster Risk Management. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 34(2), 231-250. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/posthumanist-perspectives-and-the-chernobyl-disaster-dances-of-agency-temporal-emergence-and-disaster-risk-management(f1e3a9b9-739f-4c82-bdc1-f42ecb16dd3a).html

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Abbott, O 2016, 'Posthumanist Perspectives and the Chernobyl Disaster: Dances of Agency, Temporal Emergence, and Disaster Risk Management', International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 231-250. <https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/posthumanist-perspectives-and-the-chernobyl-disaster-dances-of-agency-temporal-emergence-and-disaster-risk-management(f1e3a9b9-739f-4c82-bdc1-f42ecb16dd3a).html>

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