ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how the concept of vertically integrated expertise may be used as a way to help describe a form of expertise that has emerged in recent years in the debate surrounding the possible health risks of electric and magnetic fields/radiofrequency radiation (EMF/RF). In keeping with the economic metaphor of vertical integration the chapter discusses three quasi-economic categories: producers; products; and, marketplaces. It addresses some hypotheses to account for the emergence of vertically integrated expertise. In debates such as EMF and RF various experts are provided with the opportunity to learn and shape their knowledge claims in anticipation of legal and regulatory needs. During the 1980s and 1990s in response to ongoing demands of litigation and regulation many power authorities and electrical utilities retained legal and public relations firms to help them manage the EMF/RF 'problem'. The Atlantic Legal Foundation (ALF) has also played a more direct role by producing and promoting vertically integrated expertise packages in specific controversies.
