Disputed dimensions of risk: a public school controversy over AIDS

Nelkin, D.; Hilgartner, S.

Milbank Quarterly 64(Suppl. 1): 118-142

1986


ISSN/ISBN: 0887-378X
PMID: 11649926
Document Number: 345837
Analysis of court hearings in a case to prevent a child with AIDS from attending school reveals how perceptions of risk are shaped by a range of cultural, political, and institutional factors. The many actors in this ritualized verbal combat sought to control interpretations of evidence, scientific credibility, legitimacy of decision-making procedures, and the balance of rights and responsibilities. Technocratic authority may be less important than symbolic and political issues in determining acceptability of risk.

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