Minamata Paperback by Timothy S. George

Product Details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press (2002-03-26)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 424 pages
• ISBN-13: 9780674007857
• Item Weight: 368.55 grams
• Dimensions: 0.0 x 0.0 x 0.0 cm

Nearly forty years after the outbreak of the “Minamata Disease,” it remains one of the most horrific examples of environmental poisoning. Based on primary documents and interviews, this book describes three rounds of responses to this incidence of mercury poisoning, focusing on the efforts of its victims and their supporters, particularly the activities of grassroots movements and popular campaigns, to secure redress.

Timothy S. George argues that Japan’s postwar democracy is ad hoc, fragile, and dependent on definition through citizen action and that the redress effort is exemplary of the great changes in the second and third postwar decades that redefined democracy in Japan.

About the Author

Timothy S. George is Professor of History at the University of Rhode Island.