Nuclear Legacies

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.

Over the past two decades, citizens, organizations, and governments have passionately debated the nature of the consequences of nuclear production, and how they should be managed. This volume focuses on the role of communication in shapingand potentially resolvingthe conflicts that emerge during these debates.

Chapter 1 Introduction: Linking Nuclear Legacies and Communication Studies Chapter 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 Chapter 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 Chapter 10 Critical Response Chapter 11 Response: Nuclear Legacies and Opportunities for Politically and Ethically Engaged Communication Scholarship