Power pylons, microwaves, "electrosmog" - we are familiar with recent criticism of and debates about electromagnetic radiation. But does it also have a history? How old is the concern about (non-radioactive) radiation and who raised this criticism? Little or nothing is known about this, even among experts.

The aim of the project is therefore to analyse the discourse history of the social and (pseudo-)scientific criticism of technological infrastructure expansion in connection with static/low-frequency electric and magnetic fields and high-frequency electromagnetic fields (collective term: EMF) for the territory of today's Federal Republic of Germany from 1871 onwards. As a result, empirical and systematic insights into the structure, function and dynamics of the discourse are to be gained and, on this basis, recommendations for the risk communication of the BfS are to be developed.

The challenges associated with this task are manifold. The study covers the very long period from 1871 to the present day. During this time, not only have state, social, economic, legal and technical structures and conditions changed fundamentally, but also the presence of technology in people's everyday lives. While electrical engineering was still in its infancy 150 years ago, today it is omnipresent and an integral part of everyday life. 

In addition, linguistic, scientific and knowledge structures have changed massively. Many concepts, world views, accepted ways of reasoning, the state of science and technology, as well as the knowledge available in society are structured completely differently today than they were 150 years ago. Knowledge and attitudes have changed rapidly, not least due to the broadening of access to education and science. This change is accompanied by new possible conditions for discourse with corresponding public spheres, attitudes towards and forms of articulating criticism and their social acceptance. All of this requires a context-sensitive investigation that brings in insights from approaches from the history of technology, economics, politics, the environment, culture, law and society.

A discourse-historical approach that brings together linguistic phenomena and speaking actors and systematically incorporates relevant contexts is methodologically appropriate for this task. A pragmatic-explorative approach is chosen for this study, as it ventures into previously little-researched territory.

Firstly, the state of the art in science and technology is identified on the basis of secondary literature. In a further step, archive materials are researched in government, scientific and civil society archives, among others. The archives of companies and business organisations are also taken into account. The aim is to gain empirical and systematic insights into the structure, function and dynamics of criticism of technological infrastructure development in connection with EMF over a period of more than 150 years. 

A historical discourse analysis is chosen as the methodological approach. It comprises five different levels: 

(1) the (linguistic) structure, i.e. the "order of the discourse", consisting of certain terms, conceptual contexts and argumentation patterns (topoi), frames and narratives;

(2) A stakeholder analysis to identify the key stakeholders or stakeholder groups and their different roles;

(3) the identification of any economic, political or legal/regulatory consequences of the EMF discourse;

(4) the connection between arguments and actors over time: Can fixed patterns of argumentation be attributed to the actors or did positions develop dynamically over time?

(5) the relationship between expert and lay knowledge in the course of the discourse: Which actors trusted or opposed scientific arguments?

The results should help the BfS to better counter this and similar phenomena in society in the future.