Research Catalog

Planning as persuasive storytelling : the rhetorical construction of Chicago's electric future

Title: Planning as persuasive storytelling : the rhetorical construction of Chicago's electric future / James A. Throgmorton.
Author: Throgmorton, James A.
Publication: Chicago : University of Chicago Press, ©1996.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Use in library	HD9685.U7 C698 1996	Off-site

Details

Description

xxiii, 313 pages : illustrations, maps; 24 cm

Summary

"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 construct constituencies that the planner's vision is both desirable and feasible. Though seeking to persuade, the planner must also remain open to transformation through honest engagement with contending stories. 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 persuasive storytelling by diverse authors"--Page 4 of cover.

Series Statement

New practices of inquiry

Uniform Title

New practices of inquiry

Subject

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (p. 277-300) and index.

Contents

The irony of modernist planning -- The argumentative or rhetorical turn in planning -- The modernist institution and rhetoric of regulated natural monopoly -- Commonwealth Edison's ambitious nuclear power expansion plan, 1973-1986 -- The best deal for Illinois consumers? Assessing Commonwealth Edison's "Negotiated settlement" -- Edison completes its nuclear power expansion plan, but who will pay for the last of It? -- Precinct captains at the nuclear switch? Exploring Chicago's electric power options -- Survey research as a trope in electric power planning arguments -- Precinct captains at the nuclear switch? The mayor's hand turns up empty -- Frozen in a passionate embrace: allocating pain, allocating blame -- The Plateau in the web: planning as persuasive storytelling within a web of relationships.

ISBN

0226799638
9780226799636
0226799646
9780226799643

LCCN

95042963

OCLC

ocm33243847
33243847
SCSB-9323533

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library