Mobilising Modernity - 9780415047913

Taylor & Francis

This controversial new book traces the journey from public confidence in nuclear technology to the anxieties of the Risk Society questioning a number of conventional wisdoms en route. > \nDuring the nuclear heyday of the post-war years advocates of atomic power promised cheap electricity and a prosperous future. From the present, however, this promise seems tarnished by accidents, leaks and a lack of public confidence. Mobilising Modernity traces this journey from confidence in technology to the anxieties of the Risk Society questioning a number of conventional wisdoms en route. \nPaying close attention to social, political and policy aspects throughout, this book considers:\n* the nuclear moment from global collaborative project at Los Alamos to fragmented, bitterly competing projects\n* the 'atomic science movement's' use of symbolic resources to win national ascendancy\n* the implications of secrecy and the establishment of quasi-commercial organisations within the nuclear indu.