The origins of the protest movement against nuclear power

Abstract

The protest movement against nuclear power in the U.S. emerged as a consequence of the initial decline of the nuclear-power industry. Changes in financial and energy markets in the early 1970s threatened the industry, and in response, nuclear proponents and political elites initiated a political defense of the nuclear industry that exposed institutionalized relations of power, defined a visible target, and generated a simultaneous, collective perception of injustice, which led to the protest movement against nuclear power. The opposition to the Seabrook plant and the formation of the Clamshell Alliance represent a paradigmatic case, because at Seabrook the defense of the industry took its most visible form and because the Clamshell initiated the protest movement. This analysis presents a modified version of political-process theory by advancing a critical theory of power and developing the concept of a political condensation in contrast to political opportunity to explain the origins of the protest movement against nuclear power.

Citation

Adair, S. (2001), "The origins of the protest movement against nuclear power", Coy, P.G. (Ed.) Political Opportunities Social Movements, and Democratization (Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, Vol. 23), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 145-178. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0163-786X(01)80020-3