Neoliberal logics of government shaping childhood today produce market-based frameworks for understanding childhood risks. In this timely work, Nadesan argues that these frameworks encourage affluent parents to pursue individualized technologies of the self to reduce risks posed to their children's future success. In contrast, neoliberal market frameworks regard lower-income children as "risky," and therefore deploy targeted disciplines aimed at reducing economic and biopolitical risks to the nation. "Risks" posed by poor children abroad derive from, and legitimize, a new U.S. security discourse that governs primarily through strategic containment and normalization, yet doesn't hesitate to employ repression. The current global economic crisis points to the limits and paradoxes of the neoliberal logics governing populations, presenting future "risks" for twenty-first century childhood.

The Fukushima nuclear disaster is among the worst nuclear accidents in history. What environmental and public health effects can be expected from the widespread radiation contamination? Majia Holmer Nadesan offers a detailed look at the Fukushima disaster, examines evidence of contamination in Japan and North America, and reviews preliminary research on the human and environmental effects of the disaster. Her findings are contextualized in relation to historical and present understandings of ionizing radiation and genomic instability.