Dr June Marks
Department of Sociology, Flinders University Adelaide
Social and cultural constructions of risk: the experience of water recycling
This presentation will discuss three main theoretical approaches to risk perceptions and demonstrate their utility in explaining public acceptance of water recycling. The examples given are drawn from case study research conducted in the USA and Australia from 2000 to 2006, and quantitative data generated in the first national survey on Australian attitudes to using alternative sources of water. While the characteristics of risk, emphasised in the socio-psychological, realist approach appear to have some relevance (for example, the risk being natural rather than technological), social construction of risk theory is more helpful in working towards causal relationships. The risk society thesis of Beck (1992) and Giddens (1990) suggests that trust in technological innovation, such as recycling water from effluent, will be shaped through reflexive modernisation. Another branch of the social constructivist approach emphasises the cultural-symbolic context (Douglas 1966; 1984). This latter explanation assists in understanding survey results of public perceptions of risk and water recycling. For the case study level, however, Sztompka’s (1999) trust-building analytical structure has been extended to embrace both the socio and cultural constructions of risk. This provides a comprehensive framework for analysing community reactions to drinking water sourced from effluent, and the experience of recycling water for other domestic, non-drinking uses. While these results identify ways to establish and maintain trust in alternative sources of water, further socio-cultural research into the institutions that promote or inhibit water recycling would move this work forward.
Biography
June Marks is a sociologist who has focussed on community engagement with water recycling and public acceptance of alternative options to traditional water supplies available through integrated water management. Her PhD research (2000-2003) was on Australian and USA community experience and perceptions of water recycling. In 2004 she conducted an evaluation of the Virginia Pipeline Scheme to investigate growers’ experience of recycling water for irrigating horticultural crops in the Northern Adelaide Plains. Most recently she has been working on an Australian Research Council Linkage Project through Flinders University with industry partner United Water International Pty Ltd. As part of this project, a 2005 national survey established Australian data on acceptability of alternative water supply options. In 2006, more detailed surveys on the experience of water recycling and the role of communication in building trust were conducted in three water recycling sites, generating data for comparison with the national survey results and between the three schemes.
Email: june.marks@flinders.edu.au