Nuclear Legacies Communication, Controversy, and the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex

by Taylor, Bryan C.; Kinsella, William J.; Depoe, Stephen P.; Metzler, Maribeth S.; Hamilton, Jennifer Duffield; Krupar, Jason N.; McNamara, Laura A.; Morgan, Eric L.; Mullen, Jay; Peterson, Tarla Rai

• ISBN13: 9780739119051
• ISBN10: 0739119052
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-04-29
• Publisher: LEXINGTON BOOKS

Summary

Although the Cold War is commonly considered 'over,' the legacies of that conflict continue to unfold throughout the globe. One site of post-Cold War controversy involves the consequences of U.S. nuclear weapons production for worker safety, public health, and the environment. Over the past two decades, citizens, organizations, and governments have passionately debated the nature of these consequences, and how they should be managed. This volume clarifies the role of communication in creating, maintaining, and transforming the relationships between these parties, and in shaping the outcomes of related organizational and political deliberations. Providing various perspectives on nuclear culture and discourse, this anthology serves as a model of interdisciplinary communication scholarship that cuts across the subfields of political, environmental, and organizational communication studies, and rhetoric.

Author Biography

Bryan C. Taylor is associate professor of communication at the University of Colorado-Boulder William J. Kinsella is a faculty member in the department of communication and the Interdisciplinary Program in Science, Technology, and Society at North Carolina State University Stephen P. Depoe is associate professor in the department of communication at the University of Cincinnati, where he also directs the Center for Health and Environmental Communication Research Maribeth S. Metzler is associate professor and director of the public relations program at the University of Cincinnati

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Introduction: Linking Nuclear Legacies and Communication Studies	p. 1
The Discourse of Officials and Stakeholders of Nuclear Weapons Production
Convergence and Divergence in the Public Dialogue on Nuclear Weapons Cleanup	p. 41
Becoming Hanford Downwinders: Producing Community and Challenging Discursive Containment	p. 73
Regional Communication and Sense of Place Surrounding the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant	p. 109
Organizing the Past, Present, and Future of Nuclear Weapons Production
Cold War Triumphant: The Rhetorical Uses of History, Memory, and Heritage Preservation within the Department of Energy's Nuclear Weapons Complex	p. 135
TRUTH Is Generated HERE: Knowledge Loss and the Production of Nuclear Confidence in the Post-Cold War Era	p. 167
(Forever) At Work in the Fields of the Bomb: Images of Long-Term Stewardship in Post-Cold War Nuclear Discourse	p. 199
Critical Response
Response: Nuclear Legacies and Opportunities for Politically and Ethically Engaged Communication Scholarship	p. 237
Index	p. 255
About the Contributors	p. 265
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