Seeing the Unseen: The Chernobyl Imprint on the Hungarian Public Sphere
TL;DR: This paper analyzed the influence of the Chernobyl factor on the nuclear power discourse in Hungary and found that despite Chernobyl's significant impact on the cultural memory of Hungarian society, it is considered an event of the past with limited relevance for the future.
Abstract: This research article analyzes the influence of the "Chernobyl factor" on the nuclear power discourse in Hungary. Despite its temporal distance, the geographical proximity of the Chernobyl disaster has significantly influenced the lives and perceptions of current Hungarian generations. The research examines two layers of public communication regarding the Chernobyl disaster-political discourse and Hungarian online news media-and matches these with the online representation of the catastrophe. This study finds that despite Chernobyl's significant impact on the cultural memory of Hungarian society, it is considered an event of the past with limited relevance for the future. The contemporary representation of Chernobyl reflects the aspirations and expectations of current society, manifests highly mediatized content, nurtures elements of infotainment, symbolizes danger and negligence, and socially reconstructs meaning through alienation from its original connotation. The Chernobyl factor does not appear significantly in current nuclear discourse in Hungary.
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TL;DR: The COVID-19 has spawned a surge in the number of public epidemic prevention policies as mentioned in this paper, and more important than active policy-making is how to increase citizens' policy compliance willingness.
Abstract: COVID-19 has spawned a surge in the number of public epidemic prevention policies. More important than active policy-making is how to increase citizens’ policy compliance willingness. Based on publ...
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01 Jan 2021TL;DR: The public sector delivery system is one of the most critical methods to improve public welfare (Masuku & Jili 2019) and local government authorities are expected to provide sustainable services in the right amount and time (Huragu & Chuma 2019) as mentioned in this paper.
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2 citations
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TL;DR: This article explored the relationship between media discourse and public opinion by analyzing the discourse on nuclear power in four general audience media: television news coverage, newsmagazine accounts, editorial cartoons, and syndicated opinion columns.
Abstract: Media discourse and public opinion are treated as two parallel systems of constructing meaning. This paper explores their relationship by analyzing the discourse on nuclear power in four general audience media: television news coverage, newsmagazine accounts, editorial cartoons, and syndicated opinion columns. The analysis traces the careers of different interpretive packages on nuclear power from 1945 to the present. This media discourse, it is argued, is an essential context for understanding the formation of public opinion on nuclear power. More specifically, it helps to account for such survey results as the decline in support for nuclear power before Three Mile Island, a rebound after a burst of media publicity has died out, the gap between general support for nuclear power and support for a plant in one's own community, and the changed relationship of age to support for nuclear power from 1950 to the present.
4,229 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, Gramsci's approach to the dynamics of hegemony and counter-hegemony is used to develop guidelines for the historical analysis of conditions under which religion promotes eith...
Abstract: Building on Antonio Gramsci's approach to the dynamics of hegemony and counterhegemony, this article develops guidelines for the historical analysis of conditions under which religion promotes eith...
168 citations
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TL;DR: The Chernobyl disaster has left a number of enduring effects, including physical symbols, and a cult of personality as mentioned in this paper, as well as the controversy over the number of fatalities attributable to the disaster.
Abstract: The Chernobyl disaster has left a number of enduring effects. Aside from the contested numbers of fatalities attributable to the disaster, it has also left a number of physical symbols, and a cultu...
44 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess public communication on nuclear energy in Poland against four theoretical ideal types of the public sphere in modern democracies and conclude that although in the legal and civil society realms there are some elements of the participatory liberal type, the current functioning of public sphere is rather aligned with the representative liberal democracy type and does not further energy transition.
Abstract: In this article we assess public communication on nuclear energy in Poland against four theoretical ideal types of the public sphere in modern democracies. We investigate law, media discourse, and civil society as dimensions of the public sphere, and use the analysis to draw out broader implications for energy transitions. We conclude that although in the legal and civil society realms there are some elements of the participatory liberal type, the current functioning of the public sphere is rather aligned with the representative liberal democracy type and does not further energy transition. The representative liberal type is supported by mainstream media, focused mainly on economic and political elites. This is why initiatives of grassroots movements are not reflected in public discourse, neither in traditional media nor on the Internet. Even if they appear, their impact is limited because of weak exposition. Our research offers reflections on how energy transition may be furthered via the public sphere. The article brings a sociological and socio-legal analysis of the public sphere to energy policy research. By presenting the unique case of potential new nuclear power plant build in Poland, we contribute an integrative view of energy policy as a public governance issue in contemporary Central and East European democracies.
40 citations