This paper examines the social, cultural and political factors that favor or disrupt deep geothermal energy projects in Alsace. The research was conducted in the Risk Governance package of the H2020 DESTRESS program, aimed at comparing public perceptions of deep geothermal energy in different contexts. The French case studies focus on two different contexts: one in Northern Alsace, where geothermal energy is fairly well accepted, and another in the Eurometropolis of Strasbourg, where some projects have raised substantial controversy. Several conceptual tools are used to understand variations in the public perceptions of geothermal projects. First, the distinction between "locally anchored" projects and "unbound" or exogenous projects account for the way these projects take shape, based on dialog or facilitated by a favorable economic and national political context, ignoring local specificities. Second, the concepts of social identity and social worlds allow us to yield insights into the acceptability of a project on a more sociological and cultural level, instead of adopting a limited risk perception focus. By considering the social and cultural contexts, we can better explain the weight that opponents place in their discourses on induced risks, local politics, or environmental issues during a technoscientific controversy. This ultimately leads us to underline the limitations of the communication models for project governance that are chiefly aimed at reassuring the local population.
This paper shows the infl uence of media coverage for the fate of heart transplantation in France. It argues that the media's support not only reinforced the graft's medical legitimacy, but also sustained the practice by mobilizing public support. Our study focuses on two peaks in media coverage. The fi rst took place in 1968/69, as the fi rst grafts in the world and in France were performed. The second occurred in 1973, when surgeries resumed in France following a four-year hiatus due to the mixed results of the early operations. French transplants were then largely covered on TV and in newspapers. We examine the reasons for these peaks in coverage and the underlying rationales of the alliance between French surgeons and journalists. Cross-analysis of TV and print productions sheds light on the media devices used to enlist the general public's moral support. It shows that state television proved an effective platform for doctors, allowing for a different kind of storytelling than in newspapers. Television studies, science popularization, organ transplantation, France, heart transplant * This research received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) "The healthy self as body capital (BodyCapital)" project under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 694817). We would like to thank the INA and its staff for making the archive descriptions and videos available to social scientists. This paper was translated from French by Jean-Yves Bart, with support from the Maison Interuniversitaire des Sciences de l'Homme d'Alsace (MISHA) and the Excellence Initiative of the University of Strasbourg.
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