Dissertation Research: Cultural Context of Health Behavior of Puerto Rican Adolescents

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The home power movement in the United States now counts over 100,000 homes whose owners have implemented their own photovoltaic (solar cell), wind and micro-hydroelectric power systems. The object of this research is to examine this movement as a rare instance of direct democratic decisionmaking in the area of technology design and development. Linking the home power experience with elements of democratic theory and the science and technology studies literature, the investigator will develop a new model of public participation in science and technology decisionmaking and compare and contrast it with other, more familiar institutional structures and practices in which such decisions get made. Empirical data gathering on the home power movement will involve interviews with major national figures and other activists, and participant observation in the community around Amherst, Wisconsin, that produces the annual Midwest Renewable Energy Fair. Research will examine the unique nature of popular interactions in shaping a knowledge base; the nature of participation in the movement and the effects of participation on the participants themselves; the distinctive perception and handling of expertise in the movement; and any links that may exist between particular attributes of the technologies involved and the directness of individual participation. To help to refine the model and gauge its applicability, the investigator will consider whether relationships exist between home power developments and citizens' concerns about toxic waste disposal, or the emergence of `participatory research` efforts in the U.S. and abroad. The model to be developed will be responsive to recently expressed concerns about technology decision making in a democracy and contribute to ongoing re-examinations of relationships between government and science and technology in light of post-Cold War changes in social and economic circumstances. In this climate, new patterns of decisionmaking and their impacts are worthy of consideration. Findings will be presented at conferences and meetings and in articles for both academic and popular audiences; a book may also result.