Nuclear injustice: Suggestions in support of a research agenda
Abstract
In their recent essay in the Bulletin, Frankiska Stärk and Ulrich Kühn reassess the “distribution of the costs and benefits of nuclear deterrence” and set up a research agenda about nuclear (weapons) (in)justice (on humans but not the planet). I will not engage here with the scope of their proposed agenda, their implicit definition of justice, theory of change, and the implicit separation between nuclear power and weapons; I will not engage either with their claims about desirable nuclear weapons policies. I will simply identify and applaud ways in which they avoid common traps in nuclear studies, and then I will indicate problems with their propositions given what they say they want to do. Finally, I will suggest ways to address these problems.