“Because We've Got History Here”: Nuclear Waste, Cooperative Siting, and the Relational Geography of a Complex Issue

Abstract

This paper takes as its focus recent developments in UK radioactive waste management policy and, through a relational reading of siting confl icts, stresses the need to locate, historically, controversy that takes place in the present. In particular, I argue that temporally distant actors and events, which remain culturally very salient, are critical in shaping the pathway of contentious planning processes. Here I trace the space-time relations that confi gure the (possible) siting of a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) for higher activity nuclear waste, through a cooperative process of volunteerism, as a matter of concern for publics in West Cumbria. The history, economy, and culture of West Cumbria is intimately connected with the nuclear industry-and, at the time of writing, the region represents the only area of England and Wales for which there are recorded expressions of interest in hosting a GDF. The paper demonstrates that controversy centred on the spatial ordering of the siting process by government-a politics that was rooted in the area's history with nuclear waste-and the actors and events that had structured this past. In this regard, I argue for a geographical reading of siting controversy that acknowledges the agency of the absent, and the play of distant others in confi guring a public politics of the present.

Procedural justice and the implementation of community wind energy projects: A case study from South Yorkshire, UK

“…Second, the Norton case echoes research that argues that the details of what is 'procedurally just' in any given situation are shaped by context and history (Bickerstaff, 2012;Debbané and Keil, 2004;Fan, 2006;Vermeylen and Walker, 2011). The project leaders' status as an 'outsider' to the area , and an unease around wind projects occurring in neighbouring localities and at wider scales, were particularly important.…”

“…In contrast, in communities with greater reserves of 'thick trust' (Gambetta, 1988) or with more positive histories around community wind development, informal procedures may work because residents do not feel they require formal confirmation that the project leaders are acting in the community's best interest (see Simcock, 2012). Therefore, aside from broad principles any implementation process needs to avoid over generalised and simplified prescriptions of 'what works' and instead recognise 'the agency of the absent' (Bickerstaff, 2012(Bickerstaff, , p. 2611 by tailoring the details of the process to the particular community in question .…”

“…and moreover individual and group expectations of justice are also shaped by historical, cultural and social contexts (Debbané and Keil, 2004;Vermeylen and Walker, 2011). Bickerstaff (2012) discusses the 'agency of the absent', arguing that past histories and events, and issues operating at a scale beyond the local, become present in infrastructure siting debates and powerfully shape people's interpretations of how such projects should be implemented (see also Keeling and Sandlos, 2009;Robbins, 2012). Alternatively, people may actually share expectations of what procedural justice involves, but for a variety of reasons may have very different experiences of the implementation process of a wind project and so reach different conclusions on whether their expectations were realised.…”

Conceptualizing waste as a resource: Urban biosolids processing in the rural landscape

“…Differing constructions of scale can be used as a tool to examine community struggle over facility siting (Kurtz 2003) and resource management policies (Chambers and Sandberg 2007;Zulu 2009), and help to explain conflicting perceptions and responses to proposed developments. Other scholars, such as Bickerstaff (2012), consider the spatial and temporal relationalities of place and the nuances of infrastructure (both geographically and technologically) to further examine relational geographies. Such relational or relative constructs of place help to rethink the The Canadian Geographer / Le G eographe canadien 2018, 62 (2): [266][267][268][269][270][271][272][273][274][275][276][277][278][279][280][281] Biosolids fertilizers: A waste or resource 271 nature and unequal consequences of siting disputes (Bickerstaff 2012).…”

“…Other scholars, such as Bickerstaff (), consider the spatial and temporal relationalities of place and the nuances of infrastructure (both geographically and technologically) to further examine relational geographies. Such relational or relative constructs of place help to rethink the nature and unequal consequences of siting disputes (Bickerstaff ).…”