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The disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was an event of obviously transnational significance—not only in the airborne particulates it deposited across the Northern hemisphere, but in the political and social repercussions it set off well beyond the Soviet bloc. Focusing on the cases of Great Britain and France, this innovative study explores the discourses and narratives that arose in the wake of the incident among both state and nonstate actors. It gives a thorough account of the stereotypes, framings, and “othering” strategies that shaped Western European nations’ responses to the disaster, and of their efforts to come to terms with its long-term consequences up to the present day.
“Readers will find Kalmbach’s book a good companion for the Chernobyl history literature... Kalmbach’s work also sits on a shelf of the new disaster studies scholarship that explores the politics of disaster as contingent, urgent, and slow moving.” • Technology and Culture
“…an engaging tale chronicling the construction of narratives comprising the discursive legacy of Chernobyl outside of Eastern Europe…A reminder that the Chernobyl debates are not over.” • Isis
“Through wide-ranging and careful research, Karena Kalmbach elaborates the many ways in which the Chernobyl accident became a European historical event closely turning around national politics in Great Britain and France. Kalmbach shows the irony of transnational nuclear technologies and nuclear fallout confined in national discourse.” • Kate Brown, MIT
“The Meanings of a Disaster is a meticulously researched, readable, and intelligently argued analysis of over two decades’ worth of Chernobyl discourse in France and Britain.” • Sonja Schmid, Virginia Tech
“As a follow-up to her skillful study of discourses around nuclear power and radiation protection in France following the Chernobyl disaster, Karena Kalmbach has provided a fresh look at the problem in transnational and comparative perspective. Her argument is well-grounded, based on broad evidence, and embedded within a clear and effective conceptual framework.” • Anna Veronika Wendland, Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe
List of Abbreviations
Chapter 1. 1986–88: Direct Reactions and Early Narratives
Chapter 2. 1989–2005: Chernobyl Memory in the Making
Chapter 3. 2006: The Chernobyl ‘Renaissance’ within the ‘Nuclear Renaissance’
Conclusion
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index