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 Controversy
and Politics
Participants
Dynamics
of Controversy
Function
of Controversy
Rhetoric
•
Stages of
Controversy
Environmental
Philosophies
Environmental
Politics
References
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Stages of a Controversy
Why do some controversies take off?
(Mazur)
 Warning
(Ignition Phase)
- scientific discovery
- news report or book eg Rachel
Carson, Ralph Nader
- watchdog groups - environmental,
consumer, scientific
- accident/event
- local community opposition to a
project
Warning
taken up by a few people
- taken up by a few easily
identifiable groups
- limited to a few geographic
sites
- general public uninformed and
perhaps unaware of controversy
- limited media
attention
- limited resources
- use of stunts/emotional appeals,
exageration to get attention
Mass
Movement
- groups become joined into a
more or less organised network, people
recruited
- successful national movements
require a coalition of local protest groups and a
strong effort to lobby federal government through
courts, Congress, govt departments
- a few individuals on each side of
the controversy emerge as nationally known
spokespersons
- opposing, hostile camps become
clearly identified, one the establishment side
supporting the technology, the other the challenge
side made up primarily of voluntary
organisations.
- new members recruited among
friends and acquaintances, new members join as a bloc
as organisations merge.
- public demonstrations get media
attention
- movement participants develop a
shared outlook which emphasizes the hazards of the
technology and their confrontation with the
establishment.
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