Risk and confidence in industrial communities: a comparative history of perceptions of industrial pollution in Oak Ridge and Rockwood, Tennessee
The primary goal of this dissertation is to determine which factors contribute to community-level perceptions of risk relating to industrial pollution. So as to attain this goal, a preliminary model for the study of community perceptions of environmental health was developed and applied to two communities which grew and revolved around particular industries. These communities are Oak Ridge and Rockwood, both located in eastern Tennessee. This dissertation differs from most studies of risk in two respects. First, it concentrates on sources of confidence in the safety of industrial activities and by-products, rather than exclusively on the fears associated with industries. Second, it brings to the study of risk an explicit ethnohistorical perspective. Thus, risk perceptions are discussed in relation to their historical development as well as their social and technical contexts.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Inc., TN (USA); Pennsylvania Univ., Philadelphia (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76OR00033
- OSTI ID:
- 5355827
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/OR/00033-T210; ON: TI86014200
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
290200* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
290300 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
AIR POLLUTION
ATTITUDES
COMMUNITIES
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FEDERAL REGION IV
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HUMAN POPULATIONS
INDUSTRY
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
NORTH AMERICA
OAK RIDGE
POLLUTION
POPULATIONS
PUBLIC OPINION
RISK ASSESSMENT
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
TENNESSEE
USA