Linked arms : a rural community resists nuclear waste / Thomas V. Peterson ; photographs by Steve Myers.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Peterson, Thomas Virgil, 1943-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Low level radioactive waste disposal facilities--Location--New York (State)--Allegany County.

Low level radioactive waste disposal facilities.

Low level radioactive waste disposal facilities--New York (State)--Allegany County--Public opinion.

Public opinion--New York (State)--Allegany County.

Public opinion.

Environmental protection--New York (State)--Allegany County--Citizen participation.

Environmental protection.

Civil disobedience--New York (State)--Allegany County.

Civil disobedience.

Nonviolence--New York (State)--Allegany County.

Nonviolence.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (283 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, c2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Through character development, snappy dialogue, and vivid scenes, Linked Arms tells the story of a rural people's successful struggle to keep a major nuclear dump out of Allegany County in western New York. Five times over a twelve-month period hundreds of ordinary people—merchants, teachers, homemakers, professionals, farmers, and blue collar workers—ignored potential jail terms and large fines to defy the nuclear industry and governmental authority by linking arms in the bitter cold to thwart the siting commission through civil disobedience.The hearts and minds of the resisters emerge in the narrative, as we find out why these people found civil disobedience compelling, how they organized themselves, and what moral dilemmas they addressed as they fought for their convictions. While becoming more engaged in the resistance, they confronted critical issues in contemporary America: democratic decision making, environmental policy, legal rights, corporate responsibility, and the technology of nuclear waste.Some of the book's highlights include: conversations that took place between Governor Cuomo, Assemblyman Hasper, and the protestors, which thoughtfully probe who should bear the financial burden of a failed and dangerous technology; the scientific and technological issues discussed between Ted Taylor, a nuclear physicist who was one of the key people in the Manhattan project, and the leaders of the resistance; and the citizens' initiation of a lawsuit that eventually reached the Supreme Court and abrogated the central provision in the 1987 congressional law that mandated states build low-level nuclear dumps across the country. These dialogues and vignettes illustrate how the civil disobedience and dogged determination of the people of Allegany County changed the course of history.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1 THE STRUGGLE BEGINS 9

2 BIRTH OF NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE 37

3 DECLARATION OF WAR 61

4 VIGILANCE AND RAGE 89

5 DEFIANCE IN THE BITTER COLD 111

6 LINKED ARMS 127

7 DEFENDING THE SITES 145

8 OUTSIDE THE LAW 173

9 GRANDPARENTS, HORSES, AND MASKS 193.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 233-252) and index.

ISBN:

9780791489789

0791489787

9780585444130

0585444137

OCLC:

61367494