Schismogenesis in a Swedish case of railway planning

• The modernisation of the west-coast trunk line, approved by the Swedish government in the late 1980s, is the most substantial railway project in Sweden since the railway boom at the end of the nineteenth century. This investment, originally projected to cost SEK 40 billion (approx. 4.4 billion Euro), is part of an ambitious plan to modernise Swedish infrastructure to meet the needs of the twenty-first century in terms of efficiency and environmental sustainability. As to the more specific plans for rebuilding and relocating particular sections of the railway, there have been serious reservations, even fierce opposition, in communities along the proposed route. We take a close look at the debate concerning the West Coast Railway, as it has occurred in towns along the route, to discern features of the rhetorical logic of argumentation and also of its social nature as a process of discordant communication. In this, Gregory Bateson?s concept of schismogenesis will be used as an analytical tool.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Övrig annan samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialantropologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Anthropology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

risk

risk communication

siting

environmental isues

schismogeneis

cybernetics

social anthropology

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