Title: Civil society and nuclear plants in cross-border regions: the mobilisation against Fessenheim- and Cattenom nuclear power stations

Authors: Cécile Oberlé

Addresses: Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, 90 rue de Tolbiac, F-75013 Paris, France

Abstract: This paper explores the cross-border mobilisation against nuclear plants in a French-German context. The comparative approach analysing two areas (Fessenheim and Cattenom) allows to identify and to differentiate various factors interfering locally. The study investigates the ambivalence of transnational activism (Tompkins, 2016) and the relevance of imagined communities (Milder, 2012) in these matters. It focuses on the discourse of activists and it is based on the communication material which they provide. In addition, a survey has been conducted in order to specify the singularities linked to the respective regional backgrounds by the question of nuclear plants. As a result, the study highlights the impact of regional culture and identity on the degree and on the forms of mobilisation: wide discrepancies can be observed between both analysed areas. In particular, the deficits pointed out for the region around Cattenom contribute to explain the emergence of new, more radical forms of activism especially in this area.

Keywords: environmental activism; civil society; nuclear power plants; NPP; nuclear energy; cross-border cooperation; regional identity; cross-border mobilisation; France; Germany; transnational activism; imagined communities; regional culture.

DOI: 10.1504/PIE.2016.082149

Progress in Industrial Ecology, An International Journal, 2016 Vol.10 No.2/3, pp.194 - 208

Received: 21 Feb 2016
Accepted: 04 Oct 2016
Published online: 08 Feb 2017 *

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