The contextual dimension of risk dialogues: the case of water recycling weblogs in South East Queensland, Australia

In January 2007, the Premier of Queensland, Australia, made the controversial decision to introduce recycled water into South East Queensland’s drinking supply, igniting significant community debate. This paper analyses the content of an Australian anti-recycling weblog (blog) that incorporates debate about the ‘Toilet to Tap’ proposal in Toowoomba as a means of understanding how positions surrounding new technologies are formed in the context of blogs. Using the Public Acceptability of Controversial Technologies (PACT) framework as a conceptual guide, this article examines how people position themselves in the water recycling debate and establish identities in relation to institutional and political contexts. The key theme identified within the case-study weblog was the construction of a David and Goliath-type battle between the ‘ordinary resident’ versus the ‘authorities’ (local council, government and experts). Our analysis reveals how people’s positions in relation to water recycling are influenced, as much by the political and institutional context, as by perceptions of water recycling technology