‘Black card’ or rational bargaining strategies? On the difficulties involved in mastering technology effects by means of interactive processes

The present paper has two objectives in mind: On the one hand, it attempts to present and clarify the attitudes of the Austrian population on ecological issues. On the other hand, its second objective is to explicate, via a documentation and discourse analysis of a discussion on the ‘social compatibility’ of the location of radioactive waste disposal sites, how the notion of ‘social impact assessment’ ought to be interpreted as a strategic game among social actors, revolving around the poles of conflict and rational concensus‐building.