Description
Book SynopsisAlthough 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.
Trade ReviewThe volume's emphasis on communicative processes, especially in institutional settings, is a valuable contribution to study of the post-cold war period.... Combining institutional and technical history with rhetoric, communication, and anthropology generates a fascinating mix that deserves the attention of historians of technology. -- Dr. Sonja D. Schmid, assistant professor, Dept. of Science and Technology in Society, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Nuclear Legacies offers a timely and powerful reminder that the ways we talk about—or avoid talking about—nuclear weapons are often as important as the continuing presence of nukes in our world. This book greatly advances our understanding of how rhetoric, myth, and memory operate in one of the most pressing issues facing the planet today. -- George Cheney, Kent State University
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction: Linking Nuclear Legacies and Communication Studies Part 2 The Discourse of Officials and Stakeholders of Nuclear Weapons Production Chapter 3 Convergence and Divergence in the Public Dialogue on Nuclear Weapons Cleanup Chapter 4 Becoming Hanford Downwinders: Producing Community and Challenging Discursive Containment Chapter 5 Regional Communication and Sense of Place Surrounding the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Part 6 Organizing the Past, Present, and Future of Nuclear Weapons Production Chapter 7 Cold War Triumphant: The Rhetorical Uses of History, Memory, and Heritage Preservation within the Department of Energy's Nuclear Weapons Complex Chapter 8 TRUTH is Generated HERE: Knowledge Loss and the Production of Nuclear Confidence in the Post-Cold War Era Chapter 9 (Forever) At Work in the Fields of the Bomb: Images of Long Term Stewardship in Post-Cold War Nuclear Discourse Part 10 Critical Response Chapter 11 Response: Nuclear Legacies and Opportunities for Politically and Ethically Engaged Communication Scholarship
