TECHNOLOGICAL CONFLICTS IN RISK SOCIETY. LOCAL PROTEST AGAINST CONSTRUCTION OF A MOBILE PHONE TRANSMITTER - CASE STUDY

One of the consequences of the 'risk society' which, according to Ulrich Beck, replaces previous forms of social life is the emergence of new kinds of social conflicts. They focus on controversies about technological innovations, therefore they will be called here 'technological conflicts'. The question raised in this article concerns possibilities to regulate technological conflicts in situation when science and experts are unable to reach conclusions about risks which may be brought by introducing a given technology. Concepts as Ulrich Becks 'risk society' and Public Understanding of Science suggest two models of possible strategies of 'technological conflicts' regulation: an expert one and a participatory one. They have been used to analyze a local controversy concerning construction plans of a mobile phone company transmitter.