Abstract
This chapter examines the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster through circulation of affect in a hybrid media environment. Using the news coverage of potassium iodide tablet buying sprees in the Northern Hemisphere in March 2011 as its case study, this chapter examines how affect sticks and circulates in the news coverage, as areas outside Japan anticipated and speculated about the possible nuclear fallout from Fukushima Daiichi. The chapter introduces the notion of affective discipline and uses it to illustrate how distinct cultural tropes are used to manage circulation of affect during a crisis. Moreover, this chapter suggests that acts of affective discipline render visible the dual role of the public in crisis reporting: represented as panicky but addressed as rational.
Anna Rantasila is main writer of this chapter.
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Notes
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https://www.deseretnews.com/article/700119238/Panic-buying-triggered-by-nuke-crisis-sweeps-China.html. Accessed 20 September 2018.
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Valaskivi, K., Rantasila, A., Tanaka, M., Kunelius, R. (2019). The Global Circulation of Affect: The Case of Iodide Tablets. In: Traces of Fukushima. Palgrave Pivot, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6864-6_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6864-6_6
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