Socialogy HW

SILENT SPRING

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SILENT SPRING

The writer criticizes irresponsible chemical industry which claims that pesticides are safe. This essay described the effects of DDT on both human and plant life. Rachael’s warnings in 1963 about the effects of pesticides and herbicides and especially DDT helped spark a revolution in environmental policy creating a new ecological consciousness in America.

The author vividly describes a town in the heart of America where both animals and plants lived in harmony with the environment. The town was located in the middle of prosperous farms where there were fields of orchards as well as grain fields. The fields were green with colors flickering all over due to backdrop of pines.

DDT was one of the most powerful pesticides the world had ever known. However, DDT exposed nature's vulnerability and unlike most pesticides, DDT was able to kill several pesticides at once. DDT was developed in 1939 and it distinguished itself from WWII when it cleared South Pacific islands of malaria insects for the US troops. By 1945, DDT had become available for civilian use. Thirteen years later, Carson’s interests in writing about the dangers of DDT grew although with heretical and sometimes controversial views. Carson’s sociological views and ethics program that scrutinized science, technology, and society (on DDT) was especially impressive. While it is doubtful that scientific authorities ever had free reign to do whatever they wished, today they are held to a high degree of accountability and more so to the environment thanks to Carson’s work.

Animals such as fox also lived in the field and they were moving without any problems. The roads were made beautiful by great ferns and wildflowers and caught the eyes of travelers. During the winter season, a very large number of birds came to feed on these flowers berries as well as on seed heads of dried weeds that arose from the snow. The country side was inhabited by abundant and variety of bird life. People traveled to observe them.

Houses were raised houses, sunk wells and built barns and everything changed. Mysterious diseases killed the flocks of chicken, cattle and sheep. Farmers started talking of death everywhere because even family members were becoming sick. Doctors were puzzled by the new kind of sickness that that started to appear among the patients. Several sudden and unexplained deaths among adults and children were reported.

Strange stillness was also noticed because there were few of no birds. This puzzled and disturbed many people. The few birds such as moribund trembled violently and were not able to fly. The mornings used to be noisy because birds such as robins, catbirds and doves were present. This birds are now no where to be seen. On the farms the hens brooded but chicks were not hutched. Pigs died because there were little litters.

There was no pollination taking place on trees because no bees and the made trees to be without fruits. The once attractive roadsides were in form of withered vegetation and it was deserted by living things. Rivers were without fish. What silenced the rebirth of new life was nor because of an enemy nor was it because of witchcraft but was due to human action. Every one of these disasters described has happened elsewhere in the world and many communities have suffered.

The sociological analysis of risky technologies has moved the poles of risk objection and constructivism. As a case in point, there is the evolution of risk knowledge resources in the DDT debate as envisioned by Carson’s Silent Spring. At first, DDT was prohibited in the 1970s, but failure followed success very closely. The DDT issue arises and process of knowledge production and establishment of risk perspective. One of the roots of a sociological analysis is the critique of an objectivist notion of risk. Sociological analyses had shown that by the 1960s, a new social reflectivity regarding the environmental concerns had begun and which became the new filed of risk expectation. This is because the DDT debate took place in a relatively closed problem centered community. The main actors (Carson et al) were known and their approach to defining risk showed a stable constellation. The dominant risk definition referred to the dominant discourse of actual risk/damage. The problem centered community remained closed until; the 1960s when the public became involved in debate and new actors (Carson) entered the stage. In this way, the problem centered society was rapidly and dramatically opened on the potential damage that became the new standard.

References

Carson, R. Silent Spring Fortieth, Houghton Mifflin Company publisher, Anniversary edition