The Birth of Nuclear Eternity
Abstract
This chapter reconnects modes of futures-making with the requirements of democracy by
focusing on the naturalization of nuclear weapons and their removal from the realm of de-
mocratic choice at a particular point in time. The chapter revolves around the concept of
‘nuclear eternity’ as a means of reducing public choices about the use of nuclear
weapons. It critiques the idea that nuclear weapons have always been perceived as ‘here
to stay’ and reassesses the dominant narrative about the 1960s as an emancipatory
decade by arguing that the decade actually witnessed a significant shrinking of future po-
litical possibilities. Finally, the chapter identifies three shapes of the future which pro-
duce ‘nuclear eternity’—an absent post-nuclear future, an inconsistent post-nuclear
future, and a disconnected post-nuclear future—and illustrates them with historical exam-
ples
Domains
Political science
Origin : Files produced by the author(s)