Planning as Persuasive Storytelling - The Rhetorical Construction of Chicago's Electric Future

"Planning as Persuasive Storytelling" is a revealing look at the world of political conflict surrounding the Commonwealth Edison Company's ambitious nuclear power plant construction program in northern Illinois during the 1980s. Examining the clash between the utility, consumer groups, community-based groups, the Illinois Commerce Commission, and the City of Chicago, Throgmorton argues that planning can best be thought of as a form of persuasive storytelling. A planner's task is to write future-oriented texts that employ language and figures of speech designed to persuade their constituencies of the validity of their vision. Juxtaposing stories about efforts to construct Chicago's electric future, "Planning as Persuasive Storytelling" suggests a shift in how we think about planning. In order to account for the fragmented and conflicted nature of contemporary American life and politics, that shift would be away from "science" and the "experts" and toward rhetoric and storytelling.

Summary

This study looks at the world of political conflict surrounding the Commonwealth Edison Company's nuclear power plant construction programme in northern Illinois during the 1980s. It examines the theory that planning can best be thought of as a form of persuasive storytelling.

Product details

• Authors: James A. Throgmorton, Throgmorton James A.
• Publisher: University Presses
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.07.1996
• EAN: 9780226799643
• ISBN: 978-0-226-79964-3
• No. of pages: 328
• Dimensions: 15 mm x 23 mm x 2 mm
• Weight: 510 g
• Series: New Practices of Inquiry S.; New Practices of Inquiry (Pape; New Practices of Inquiry S.; New Practices of Inquiry Series NPI (CHUP); New Practices of Inquiry Series NPI
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Physics, astronomy > Mechanics, acoustics; Social sciences, law, business > Media, communication > Book trade, library system; USA, COMPUTERS / Information Theory, ARCHITECTURE / Urban & Land Use Planning, City & town planning - architectural aspects, United States of America, USA, Science / Environmental Science, Information theory, Nuclear issues, City and town planning: architectural aspects