China’s civil nuclear power programme is a sensitive topic which has seldom been researched by social or political scientists inside or outside of China. In the past, public participation activities in relation to nuclear power issues in China were rare. However, in 2005, when the central government decided to promote civil nuclear development and build 40 more nuclear reactors within the next 20 years, the public started to become aware of the potential environmental risks that might be caused by nuclear power sites. Based on six months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2007-2008, this thesis represents the first in-depth study of local people’s ways of participation concerning a potential inland nuclear power project in China. It provides rich empirical materials to illustrate local people’s differing perceptions of nuclear power and its risks. The thesis reviews developments in the sociological theorisation of ‘risk’ and, by bringing this body of literature into dialogue with the empirical case study, explores its possibilities and limitations as a means of understanding the social construction of risk in contemporary China. In exploring the social, cultural and political context of risk construction, it illustrates how political power and social status influence local people’s participation in nuclear power issues. It also demonstrates that citizens’ growing environmental risk awareness helps to create space within which they can make their voices heard and, simultaneously, that generating open spaces for people to express their opinions helps to shape their awareness of environmental risk. The central conclusion of the analysis is that, in the context of Chinese society political power, by which I mean policy makers’ ideology and all levels of governments, plays a particularly crucial role in the definition, management and governance of nuclear risk.

Memoria para optar al título de Geógrafo / En esta investigación se realiza un análisis y comparación respecto de la incorporación de la Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres (GRD) en los instrumentos de ordenamiento y planificación territorial de las comunas de San Bernardo y Calera de Tango, identificando factores críticos que determinan las diferencias entre ellas. Si bien las comunas en estudio son colindantes y poseen características físicas similares, cada una ha ido adoptando caracteres de acuerdo a su funcionalidad dentro de la Región Metropolitana. Sin embargo, las dinámicas que se han desarrollado no responden a la planificación vigente, lo que ha generado condiciones de riesgo para la población, sus bienes y economía. En la investigación fue posible determinar que los instrumentos de planificación y ordenamiento territorial aún no incorporan de manera íntegra la GRD debido en parte, a que existen confusiones conceptuales, y al tipo de gestión que se intenta proponer, ya que sigue siendo mayoritariamente reactiva. La principal diferencia entre las comunas estudiadas radica en que San Bernardo, al poseer un Plan Regulador Comunal, gestiona y ordena el territorio disminuyendo la exposición de la población a las amenazas de origen natural y antrópico existentes en la comuna, vale decir presenta una gestión preventiva. Por su parte, Calera de Tango nunca ha contado con este instrumento en particular. Al ser una comuna de carácter rural, los instrumentos de planificación actuales no son de gran ayuda debido a que se enfocan en la gestión de las zonas urbanas principalmente, por lo cual gran parte del territorio comunal no tiene regulación. A pesar de las ventajas con las que cuenta San Bernardo aún son insuficientes para reducir el riesgo de desastre. / This project consists of comparative analysis of the integration of the Disaster Risk Management (GRD) in the regulation and territorial planning of the San Bernardo and Calera de Tango municipalities, with the intent of identifying critical factors differentiating the two. While these municipalities are adjacent to each other and share many physical characteristics, they have developed distinct characteristics in accordance with the role each plays within the wider Metropolitan Region. The dynamics developed within each nonetheless do not share policy frameworks – something that has created risky conditions for their local populations, properties and economies. This investigation determined that the current methods used for territorial planning and legislation have yet to meaningfully integrate the GRD due to both conceptual ambiguities and the fact that management has up until now been largely reactive. The principal distinguishing factor separating the municipalities under investigation is that San Bernardo, in possessing a Regulatory Communal Plan, manages its territory with an eye towards reducing its population’s exposure to local natural and man-made threats. In contrast, Calera del Tango has never possessed this particular policy framework. As a rural municipality, current planning frameworks are of limited effectiveness due to their focus on urban locations. In spite of their advantages San Bernardo possesses, the current policy framework is insufficient as a means of reducing risk in the face of possible disasters.