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Hurricane Katrina, contamination, and the unintended organization of ignorance

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  • Frickel, Scott
  • Vincent, M. Bess

Abstract

This essay argues that society's understandings of environmental and public health threats are dangerously compromised by expert systems that create and legitimate those understandings. Principal among those expert systems, scientific disciplines and regulatory agencies reinforce expectations and practices for producing knowledge in ways that minimize the ecological and socio-historical contexts in which that knowledge is created. The result, in effect, is organized ignorance—a system of knowledge production that articulates risk in ways that leave much potential knowledge “undone.” We use the organization of environmental testing in Orleans Parish following Hurricane Katrina to illustrate these claims.

Suggested Citation

  • Frickel, Scott & Vincent, M. Bess, 2007. "Hurricane Katrina, contamination, and the unintended organization of ignorance," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 181-188.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:teinso:v:29:y:2007:i:2:p:181-188
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2007.01.007
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    Cited by:

    1. Kirk Jalbert & Abby Kinchy & Simona Perry, 2014. "Civil society research and Marcellus Shale natural gas development: results of a survey of volunteer water monitoring organizations," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 4(1), pages 78-86, March.
    2. Lesi Hertati & Marlina Widiyanti & Desfitrina Desfitrina & Afriapollo Syafarudin & Otniel Safkaur, 2020. "The Effects of Economic Crisis on Business Finance," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 10(3), pages 236-244.
    3. Sanne, Johan M., 2012. "Learning from adverse events in the nuclear power industry: Organizational learning, policy making and normalization," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 239-250.
    4. Simpson, Ace Volkmann & Cunha, Miguel Pina e & Clegg, Stewart, 2015. "Hybridity, sociomateriality and compassion: What happens when a river floods and a city's organizations respond?," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 375-386.
    5. François Dedieu, 2022. "Organized denial at work: The difficult search for consistencies in French pesticide regulation," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), pages 951-973, July.

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