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Paper short abstract

This presentation examines Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)’ involvement in post-Fukushima contamination and thyroid cancer issues. Focusing on CSOs’ lobbying, conciliatory bureaucratic measures, and government framing, it asks whether CSOs unintentionally support the state’s neoliberal course or continue to oppose the government.

Paper long abstract

Fifteen years have passed since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, yet major environmental and health issues remain unresolved. In addressing these issues, the Japanese state has pursued a neoliberal course that downplays environmental contamination and health risks while shifting responsibility for monitoring contaminated soil and supporting thyroid cancer patients onto civil society organizations (CSOs).

This presentation examines the current state of CSOs’ advocacy surrounding two cases that have gained significance since 2022: the government’s plan for the nationwide reuse of radioactively contaminated soil and the collective lawsuits brought by individuals who were children in 2011. Previous research has pointed out that CSOs may unintentionally contribute to the state’s neoliberal policy course by taking on responsibilities for addressing radiation-related issues (e.g., Kimura 2016). Recent studies have made similar observations (e.g., Abe 2026, Löschke 2026, Polleri 2026). This presentation asks whether CSOs have nevertheless achieved concrete successes in challenging government policies and framings.

Drawing on the analytical concepts developed in Löschke (2026), this presentation examines CSOs’ advocacy efforts through three factors: (1) lobbying targeted at actual decision-makers, (2) resistance to bureaucratic conciliatory measures such as explanatory meetings (setsumeikai), and (3) struggles over government framing.

The analysis reveals different outcomes of advocacy under the state’s neoliberal reconstruction course: CSOs opposing the nationwide reuse of radioactively contaminated soil have succeeded in challenging government plans and state framing through local mobilization, whereas CSOs supporting thyroid cancer patients have struggled to challenge the state’s overdiagnosis (kajō shindan) narrative.