Reproducing Cultural Identity in Negotiating Nuclear Power
The Union of Concerned Scientists and Emergency Core Cooling
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11923705 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gary Lee Downey (Virginia Tech, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1988 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 231-264 |
| Publication date | 1988-05-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Studies of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0306-3127 • E-ISSN: 1460-3659 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/030631288018002003 |
| OpenAlex | W1971660048 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 13 |
This paper advances the concept of `cultural identity' to account for the nexus between structure and practice in technological negotiations. It describes how the formation of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), and that group's subsequent discourse and nonverbal actions, both reproduced the established identities of group members and contributed to negotiations that reconstituted those identities. In particular, UCS claims about emergency core-cooling systems in nuclear plants were congruent with the combination of a shared ideology, the social interests of MIT faculty, and established principles of engineering design. The cultural analysis of identity reproduction shows the opposition between cognitive and social phenomena to be a significant distinction framing action in Western culture. The analysis also suggests that new attention be given to the relationship between the constitutive and reproductive functions of discourse and nonverbal action
Collective identity · Cultural identity · Epistemology · Framing (construction · Ideology · Negotiation · Nexus (standard · Opposition (politics · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Anthropology: Ethics, History, Culture · Engineering · Gender Studies · Law · Psychology · Rhetoric and Communication Studies · Social Psychology
Organizing Integrity
Strength out of weakness
Dossier Engagement public des chercheurs. Nucléaire
What Roles for Scientific Associations in Contemporary Science
Structure and Practice in the Cultural Identities of Scientists
Confronting Nuclear Risks
Inside “the system”
Discursive Choices
Being a physicist
How UK Scientists Legitimize Religion and Science Through Boundary Work
Scientists Negotiate Boundaries Between Religion and Science
Gender Segregation in Elite Academic Science
An introduction to cultural and social studies of sciences and technologies
| Citations per year | 0.34 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1988 - 2025 (38) |
| Highly cited | No |