Role-Analysis of Professionals in Cases of Dam Construction

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After the world war II, professionals and researchers played really various roles in environmental problems. In support activities for victims of Minamata disease, doctors, lawyers and social scientists played important roles in various situations such as investigation of causes of Minamata disease, searching local communities for hidden patients, legal battles and arousal of public opinion.On the contrary, the modern plant equipment which became outbreak source of Minamata disease was operated by elite engineers. After damage outbreak, not only they obstructed solution at the early stage of Minamata disease, but also invited expansion of the numbers of victims.As U.Beck points out, the fall of authority of professionals is talked about with the aggravation of risks and a new form of professionals begins to be groped for.At such time, it becomes more and more important to investigate what kinds of roles professionals historically played, compare them with present roles and foresee the future roles of professionals in arousal and solution of various environmental problems.Concentrating analysis on the problems of dam-construction, we have studied how professionals involved in them. One of our findings is that the public sphere for professionals, which is built as the result of their interaction beyond their restricted specialities, is important for the resolution of various environmental problems.