Christopher Hood, Henry Rothstein, and Robert Baldwin
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199243631
- eISBN:
- 9780191599507
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199243638.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Advances the thesis that neither single case study nor macroscopic Risk Society perspectives on risk and its management can account for variety amongst risk regulation regimes. Instead, a meso‐level ...
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Advances the thesis that neither single case study nor macroscopic Risk Society perspectives on risk and its management can account for variety amongst risk regulation regimes. Instead, a meso‐level institutional approach is needed that can capture and illuminate the complex institutional geographies, rules, practices, and animating ideas that are associated with the regulation of particular risks. This chapter argues that a systems‐based concept of a risk regulation regime can help capture such variety in three important ways. First, a regime perspective provides a systematic method for dimensionalizing and comparing risk regulation within different policy domains and identifying puzzles and questions that are not easily visible from other approaches. Second, a regime perspective provides a solid framework for systematically testing and developing theories about the forces that shape the constituent components of risk regulation regimes. Third, a regime perspective brings out the relationships between the different parts of a regulatory system, which can help identify reasons for regulatory failure and why reforms to one part of the system may have little impact on the regulatory system as a whole.Less
Advances the thesis that neither single case study nor macroscopic Risk Society perspectives on risk and its management can account for variety amongst risk regulation regimes. Instead, a meso‐level institutional approach is needed that can capture and illuminate the complex institutional geographies, rules, practices, and animating ideas that are associated with the regulation of particular risks. This chapter argues that a systems‐based concept of a risk regulation regime can help capture such variety in three important ways. First, a regime perspective provides a systematic method for dimensionalizing and comparing risk regulation within different policy domains and identifying puzzles and questions that are not easily visible from other approaches. Second, a regime perspective provides a solid framework for systematically testing and developing theories about the forces that shape the constituent components of risk regulation regimes. Third, a regime perspective brings out the relationships between the different parts of a regulatory system, which can help identify reasons for regulatory failure and why reforms to one part of the system may have little impact on the regulatory system as a whole.
Christopher Hood, Henry Rothstein, and Robert Baldwin
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199243631
- eISBN:
- 9780191599507
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199243638.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Uses the analytic framework developed in Ch. 2 to compare nine different risk regulation regimes, bringing out their similarities and differences. Those risks include attacks by dangerous dogs ...
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Uses the analytic framework developed in Ch. 2 to compare nine different risk regulation regimes, bringing out their similarities and differences. Those risks include attacks by dangerous dogs outside the home, exposure to radon at home and work, benzene in the air and in the workplace, paedophile offenders released from custody, local road safety, and exposure to pesticide residues in food and water. Analysis of those regimes provides empirical evidence that there are substantial differences between the regulation of different risks and even the same risks within different contexts. Those variations are not easily explained by historical ‘big picture’ theories, such as the risk society thesis. Instead, investigation of the revealed variations between regimes suggests a need for more systematic and nuanced explanations.Less
Uses the analytic framework developed in Ch. 2 to compare nine different risk regulation regimes, bringing out their similarities and differences. Those risks include attacks by dangerous dogs outside the home, exposure to radon at home and work, benzene in the air and in the workplace, paedophile offenders released from custody, local road safety, and exposure to pesticide residues in food and water. Analysis of those regimes provides empirical evidence that there are substantial differences between the regulation of different risks and even the same risks within different contexts. Those variations are not easily explained by historical ‘big picture’ theories, such as the risk society thesis. Instead, investigation of the revealed variations between regimes suggests a need for more systematic and nuanced explanations.
John S. Dryzek, David Downes, Christian Hunold, David Schlosberg, and Hans‐Kristian Hernes
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199249022
- eISBN:
- 9780191599095
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199249024.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Ecological modernization now suggests that environmental values can be attached to the state's core economic imperative, while Ulrich Beck's risk society thesis suggests an environmental attachment ...
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Ecological modernization now suggests that environmental values can be attached to the state's core economic imperative, while Ulrich Beck's risk society thesis suggests an environmental attachment to the state's core legitimation imperative. These developments could add up to a conservation imperative of the state—the green state—though no state is yet close to this situation. Norway has entrenched ecological modernization in a moderate weak form. Germany is closest to a strong form of ecological modernization that, in combination with risk‐induced legitimation crisis, points the way to a more reflexive and democratic political economy. The US has the sort of movement that could facilitate such a transformation—but its state has moved in exactly the opposite direction, casting economic and environmental values in old‐fashioned conflictual terms. Even the UK at long last appears to be capable of taking on board some of the key precepts of ecological modernization and democratization.Less
Ecological modernization now suggests that environmental values can be attached to the state's core economic imperative, while Ulrich Beck's risk society thesis suggests an environmental attachment to the state's core legitimation imperative. These developments could add up to a conservation imperative of the state—the green state—though no state is yet close to this situation. Norway has entrenched ecological modernization in a moderate weak form. Germany is closest to a strong form of ecological modernization that, in combination with risk‐induced legitimation crisis, points the way to a more reflexive and democratic political economy. The US has the sort of movement that could facilitate such a transformation—but its state has moved in exactly the opposite direction, casting economic and environmental values in old‐fashioned conflictual terms. Even the UK at long last appears to be capable of taking on board some of the key precepts of ecological modernization and democratization.
Lukasz Gruszczynski
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199578924
- eISBN:
- 9780191722646
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199578924.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law, Environmental and Energy Law
This chapter offers a general discussion on risk and methods of its regulation. After a brief review of different definitions of risk, including technical and psychological perspectives, it briefly ...
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This chapter offers a general discussion on risk and methods of its regulation. After a brief review of different definitions of risk, including technical and psychological perspectives, it briefly addresses historical changes in its conceptualization. The second part of the chapter concentrates on the issue of risk regulation. Again, a short historical account is combined with a more extensive discussion on contemporary regulatory methods for dealing with risk. The chapter identifies a model of risk analysis, which is composed of risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication, as a dominant regulatory approach. In this context, it also discusses the issue of uncertainty in a probabilistic risk assessment and strategies that are conventionally used to address it.Less
This chapter offers a general discussion on risk and methods of its regulation. After a brief review of different definitions of risk, including technical and psychological perspectives, it briefly addresses historical changes in its conceptualization. The second part of the chapter concentrates on the issue of risk regulation. Again, a short historical account is combined with a more extensive discussion on contemporary regulatory methods for dealing with risk. The chapter identifies a model of risk analysis, which is composed of risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication, as a dominant regulatory approach. In this context, it also discusses the issue of uncertainty in a probabilistic risk assessment and strategies that are conventionally used to address it.
Maarten A. Hajer
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198293330
- eISBN:
- 9780191599408
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019829333X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
The book identifies the emergence and increasing political importance of ‘ecological modernization’ as a new language in environmental politics. In this conceptual language, environmental management ...
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The book identifies the emergence and increasing political importance of ‘ecological modernization’ as a new language in environmental politics. In this conceptual language, environmental management appears as a ‘positive sum game’. Combining social theory with detailed empirical analysis, the book illustrates the social and political dynamics of ecological modernization through a study of the acid rain controversies in Great Britain and the Netherlands. The book concludes with a reflection on the institutional challenge of environmental politics in the years to come. The book is not only seen as a ‘modern classic’ in the literature on environmental politics but is also renowned for its application of discourse analysis to the study of the policy process.Less
The book identifies the emergence and increasing political importance of ‘ecological modernization’ as a new language in environmental politics. In this conceptual language, environmental management appears as a ‘positive sum game’. Combining social theory with detailed empirical analysis, the book illustrates the social and political dynamics of ecological modernization through a study of the acid rain controversies in Great Britain and the Netherlands. The book concludes with a reflection on the institutional challenge of environmental politics in the years to come. The book is not only seen as a ‘modern classic’ in the literature on environmental politics but is also renowned for its application of discourse analysis to the study of the policy process.
Maarten A. Hajer
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198293330
- eISBN:
- 9780191599408
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019829333X.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Discusses the character of the modern environmental conflict. As the existence of environmental degradation is now commonly accepted, the conflict has become ‘discursive’: it is not about a ...
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Discusses the character of the modern environmental conflict. As the existence of environmental degradation is now commonly accepted, the conflict has become ‘discursive’: it is not about a predefined unequivocal problem with competing actors pro and con, but is rather a continuous struggle over the definition and meaning of the environmental problem itself.Less
Discusses the character of the modern environmental conflict. As the existence of environmental degradation is now commonly accepted, the conflict has become ‘discursive’: it is not about a predefined unequivocal problem with competing actors pro and con, but is rather a continuous struggle over the definition and meaning of the environmental problem itself.
John Martyn Chamberlain
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781447325444
- eISBN:
- 9781447325543
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447325444.003.0004
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health
In light of previous chapters, the final chapter outlines how recent developments in the regulation of doctors are a result of the fluctuating social conditions associated with the emergence of the ...
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In light of previous chapters, the final chapter outlines how recent developments in the regulation of doctors are a result of the fluctuating social conditions associated with the emergence of the risk society. It discusses the possible future of risk-based forms of medical regulation and sets out a conceptual and policy-focused research agenda for ascertaining the impact of regulatory reform on both the public and the medical profession.Less
In light of previous chapters, the final chapter outlines how recent developments in the regulation of doctors are a result of the fluctuating social conditions associated with the emergence of the risk society. It discusses the possible future of risk-based forms of medical regulation and sets out a conceptual and policy-focused research agenda for ascertaining the impact of regulatory reform on both the public and the medical profession.
Thomas D. Beamish
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780804784429
- eISBN:
- 9780804794657
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804784429.003.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
Chapter 1 explains the theoretical backdrop and analytical framework that organize the book’s analysis. The chapter begins by outlining contemporary conditions in risk society where societal ...
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Chapter 1 explains the theoretical backdrop and analytical framework that organize the book’s analysis. The chapter begins by outlining contemporary conditions in risk society where societal relations among civil society, government, and industry have been transformed in the twenty-first-century United States. In this context, risk and its management at the individual, local, and national levels have become the predominant concerns and bases for “risk dispute.” Chapter 1 also describes how previous scholarship has theorized risk management and risk perception, as well as civic and community engagement and risk dispute. The chapter ends with how Community at Risk contributes to this and related areas of research.Less
Chapter 1 explains the theoretical backdrop and analytical framework that organize the book’s analysis. The chapter begins by outlining contemporary conditions in risk society where societal relations among civil society, government, and industry have been transformed in the twenty-first-century United States. In this context, risk and its management at the individual, local, and national levels have become the predominant concerns and bases for “risk dispute.” Chapter 1 also describes how previous scholarship has theorized risk management and risk perception, as well as civic and community engagement and risk dispute. The chapter ends with how Community at Risk contributes to this and related areas of research.
Betsy Thom, Rosemary Sales, and Jenny J. Pearce
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781861347329
- eISBN:
- 9781447302469
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781861347329.003.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Children and Families
This introductory chapter first sets out the purpose of the book, which is to examine the contested nature of policy and practice concerned with the identification and management of risk in the lives ...
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This introductory chapter first sets out the purpose of the book, which is to examine the contested nature of policy and practice concerned with the identification and management of risk in the lives of the young. It illustrates the varying ways in which society constructs and reconstructs the definitions and parameters of risk from birth to early adulthood. The chapter addresses a number of themes that illustrate the ambiguities and tensions inherent in current policy and practice regarding children and young people. It then discusses growing up and the perception and experience of risks, categorising risk, the ‘risk society’, and the position of children and young people within risk discourse. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less
This introductory chapter first sets out the purpose of the book, which is to examine the contested nature of policy and practice concerned with the identification and management of risk in the lives of the young. It illustrates the varying ways in which society constructs and reconstructs the definitions and parameters of risk from birth to early adulthood. The chapter addresses a number of themes that illustrate the ambiguities and tensions inherent in current policy and practice regarding children and young people. It then discusses growing up and the perception and experience of risks, categorising risk, the ‘risk society’, and the position of children and young people within risk discourse. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.
Reinhart Wolff, Kay Biesel, and Stefan Heinitz
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199793358
- eISBN:
- 9780199895137
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793358.003.0009
- Subject:
- Social Work, Social Policy
The phase of a non-punitive and particapatory opening of the child and family welfare system in the 1960s and 1970s resulted in a new legislation for the German system in 1990. Today, the German ...
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The phase of a non-punitive and particapatory opening of the child and family welfare system in the 1960s and 1970s resulted in a new legislation for the German system in 1990. Today, the German child protection system is at a crossroads. Extensive media coverage of fatal cases of child abuse and neglect contributed to child protection being regarded as a “risky system”, and the actions of social workers became a matter of public interest and caused a child protection panic, which led to a stronger interventionist orientation. Child protection has become a central socio-political issue, reflecting the wider societal, political and cultural context of a “risk society”. The German response oscillates between a universal and integrated approach and a more interventionist, risk and worst-case-scenario oriented strategy. This contribution proposes a tri-polar concept of child protection, encompassing support for the child, the family and the community.Less
The phase of a non-punitive and particapatory opening of the child and family welfare system in the 1960s and 1970s resulted in a new legislation for the German system in 1990. Today, the German child protection system is at a crossroads. Extensive media coverage of fatal cases of child abuse and neglect contributed to child protection being regarded as a “risky system”, and the actions of social workers became a matter of public interest and caused a child protection panic, which led to a stronger interventionist orientation. Child protection has become a central socio-political issue, reflecting the wider societal, political and cultural context of a “risk society”. The German response oscillates between a universal and integrated approach and a more interventionist, risk and worst-case-scenario oriented strategy. This contribution proposes a tri-polar concept of child protection, encompassing support for the child, the family and the community.
Jay Winter and Michael Teitelbaum
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300139068
- eISBN:
- 9780300195323
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300139068.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter discusses the theory of Ulrich Beck, which is related to what he has termed the “risk society.” Beck rejects both the Marxist model that capitalism is doomed to collapse and ideas ...
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This chapter discusses the theory of Ulrich Beck, which is related to what he has termed the “risk society.” Beck rejects both the Marxist model that capitalism is doomed to collapse and ideas associated with Max Weber about the onward relentless advance of the “iron cage” of the bureaucratic state and technology-driven production. In their place, Beck proposes a different, more open-ended set of ideas about the setting in which fertility decline to unprecedented low levels has occurred. What he offers is a sociological framework in which to set the Second Demographic Transition, while departing from some of the claims made by others about that transition. Beck has pioneered an approach to the “risk society” as a way to go beyond outmoded ideas about social development in advanced industrial countries.Less
This chapter discusses the theory of Ulrich Beck, which is related to what he has termed the “risk society.” Beck rejects both the Marxist model that capitalism is doomed to collapse and ideas associated with Max Weber about the onward relentless advance of the “iron cage” of the bureaucratic state and technology-driven production. In their place, Beck proposes a different, more open-ended set of ideas about the setting in which fertility decline to unprecedented low levels has occurred. What he offers is a sociological framework in which to set the Second Demographic Transition, while departing from some of the claims made by others about that transition. Beck has pioneered an approach to the “risk society” as a way to go beyond outmoded ideas about social development in advanced industrial countries.
Thomas D. Beamish
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780804784429
- eISBN:
- 9780804794657
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804784429.003.0006
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
The Conclusion provides a synoptic comparative account of the book’s findings, arguments, and conclusions. The focus is what an analysis of local civics politics lends to an understanding of risk ...
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The Conclusion provides a synoptic comparative account of the book’s findings, arguments, and conclusions. The focus is what an analysis of local civics politics lends to an understanding of risk disputes. Importantly, the Conclusion, in focusing on the civic politics of risk, shows that common political rhetoric(s) such as claims to democracy, due process, progress, and justice can mean very different things in different civic contexts that hold considerable consequence for understanding what is and is not an acceptable risk. The same terms can mean very different things given social, historical, and material legacies and the civics and discourse that locally predominate. The Conclusion also reiterates the contribution that Community at Risk makes to an impressive stock of knowledge concerning risk management, perception, and dispute, as well as civic politics, organization, and community studies. The Conclusion’s intervention is, however, equal parts new findings and synthesis.Less
The Conclusion provides a synoptic comparative account of the book’s findings, arguments, and conclusions. The focus is what an analysis of local civics politics lends to an understanding of risk disputes. Importantly, the Conclusion, in focusing on the civic politics of risk, shows that common political rhetoric(s) such as claims to democracy, due process, progress, and justice can mean very different things in different civic contexts that hold considerable consequence for understanding what is and is not an acceptable risk. The same terms can mean very different things given social, historical, and material legacies and the civics and discourse that locally predominate. The Conclusion also reiterates the contribution that Community at Risk makes to an impressive stock of knowledge concerning risk management, perception, and dispute, as well as civic politics, organization, and community studies. The Conclusion’s intervention is, however, equal parts new findings and synthesis.
Håkan Johansson
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781861347978
- eISBN:
- 9781447302735
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781861347978.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Comparative and Historical Sociology
This chapter looks at Ulrich Beck's theory of risk society. This theory is noted to have inspired a lot of social policy scholars in analysing the erosion of the foundations of ‘traditional’ welfare ...
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This chapter looks at Ulrich Beck's theory of risk society. This theory is noted to have inspired a lot of social policy scholars in analysing the erosion of the foundations of ‘traditional’ welfare states, as well as the rethinking of social policies. The chapter studies the ways this theory can be used to understand the rise of activation, its different manifestations and the introduction of individualised service provision. The notion of ‘radicalised individualisation’ is introduced, and the post-Foucauldian perspectives on individualisation are discussed.Less
This chapter looks at Ulrich Beck's theory of risk society. This theory is noted to have inspired a lot of social policy scholars in analysing the erosion of the foundations of ‘traditional’ welfare states, as well as the rethinking of social policies. The chapter studies the ways this theory can be used to understand the rise of activation, its different manifestations and the introduction of individualised service provision. The notion of ‘radicalised individualisation’ is introduced, and the post-Foucauldian perspectives on individualisation are discussed.
Patricia Waugh
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780197265987
- eISBN:
- 9780191772054
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265987.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
Examining relations between ‘therapy culture’ and the ‘risk society’, this essay suggests that the novel developed to offer a powerful workout for the kinds of socio-cognitive capacities and ...
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Examining relations between ‘therapy culture’ and the ‘risk society’, this essay suggests that the novel developed to offer a powerful workout for the kinds of socio-cognitive capacities and gratifications required by the complex and ‘emergent’ cultures of modernity: recursive skills of mindreading and mental time-travelling, the negotiation of plural ontologies. Its development of a unique mode of ‘double voicing’ allowed readers to situate the interior life in a complex and dynamic relation to the social. Reading novels challenges the default, making ‘safe’, capacities of the probabilistic or Bayesian brain. In its self-referentiality and invention of the idea of fictionality, the novel provides an education into awareness of the limits of models and their dangerous fetishisation. The novel therefore answers Wittgenstein’s search for a discourse that might provide a therapy for errors in thinking, embedded deep in structural and analogical functions of language and especially those perceptual metaphors of vision that carry the epistemological beliefs that looking in is the route to self-transparency.Less
Examining relations between ‘therapy culture’ and the ‘risk society’, this essay suggests that the novel developed to offer a powerful workout for the kinds of socio-cognitive capacities and gratifications required by the complex and ‘emergent’ cultures of modernity: recursive skills of mindreading and mental time-travelling, the negotiation of plural ontologies. Its development of a unique mode of ‘double voicing’ allowed readers to situate the interior life in a complex and dynamic relation to the social. Reading novels challenges the default, making ‘safe’, capacities of the probabilistic or Bayesian brain. In its self-referentiality and invention of the idea of fictionality, the novel provides an education into awareness of the limits of models and their dangerous fetishisation. The novel therefore answers Wittgenstein’s search for a discourse that might provide a therapy for errors in thinking, embedded deep in structural and analogical functions of language and especially those perceptual metaphors of vision that carry the epistemological beliefs that looking in is the route to self-transparency.
Thomas D. Beamish
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780804784429
- eISBN:
- 9780804794657
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804784429.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
The anthrax attacks of 2001 provoked deep concern and urgency among U.S. security elites regarding bioterrorism. Coming after 9/11 and followed by the successive menace of West Nile virus, SARS, ...
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The anthrax attacks of 2001 provoked deep concern and urgency among U.S. security elites regarding bioterrorism. Coming after 9/11 and followed by the successive menace of West Nile virus, SARS, avian influenza, and most recently Ebola these events prompted the federal government to pursue an aggressive new biodefense agenda. Even given the purported menace of bio-catastrophe, however, the new federal risk management plans stirred controversy. Community at Risk provides a comparative view of that controversy as it ensued in three communities where universities sought to host and manage National Biocontainment Laboratories (NBL) on behalf of the federal government. NBLs are a cornerstone of federal biodefense plans; they are ultrasecure laboratories where research on the most dangerous diseases can be conducted and microbiological and biomedical applications can be rapidly developed and deployed. By comparing community responses, the book highlights the role that local civic political dynamics play in defining what is at stake and perceptions of acceptable and unacceptable risk. It explains the civic politics of risk as rooted in locally shared governance conventions, politicized relations, and resonant virtues that clustered in each community context as a prevailing civics and discourse. In one community, the prevailing civics and discourse helped to ease locals toward acceptance, while in the other two communities, they helped to intensify skepticism and risk dispute. Through comparative analysis, the book shows why societal attempts to manage risk require greater attention to the local level where public understanding is often forged and political engagement arises and unfolds.Less
The anthrax attacks of 2001 provoked deep concern and urgency among U.S. security elites regarding bioterrorism. Coming after 9/11 and followed by the successive menace of West Nile virus, SARS, avian influenza, and most recently Ebola these events prompted the federal government to pursue an aggressive new biodefense agenda. Even given the purported menace of bio-catastrophe, however, the new federal risk management plans stirred controversy. Community at Risk provides a comparative view of that controversy as it ensued in three communities where universities sought to host and manage National Biocontainment Laboratories (NBL) on behalf of the federal government. NBLs are a cornerstone of federal biodefense plans; they are ultrasecure laboratories where research on the most dangerous diseases can be conducted and microbiological and biomedical applications can be rapidly developed and deployed. By comparing community responses, the book highlights the role that local civic political dynamics play in defining what is at stake and perceptions of acceptable and unacceptable risk. It explains the civic politics of risk as rooted in locally shared governance conventions, politicized relations, and resonant virtues that clustered in each community context as a prevailing civics and discourse. In one community, the prevailing civics and discourse helped to ease locals toward acceptance, while in the other two communities, they helped to intensify skepticism and risk dispute. Through comparative analysis, the book shows why societal attempts to manage risk require greater attention to the local level where public understanding is often forged and political engagement arises and unfolds.
Della Rocca
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- July 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780190874698
- eISBN:
- 9780190874735
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190874698.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Marriage and the Family, Social Psychology and Interaction
How should parents manage their children’s use of digital devices? Why do parents hope for so much from the digital world and yet fear it? The rights and wrongs of “digital parenting” are hotly ...
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How should parents manage their children’s use of digital devices? Why do parents hope for so much from the digital world and yet fear it? The rights and wrongs of “digital parenting” are hotly contested within families, among policymakers, and in the media? To answer these questions, this chapter introduces fieldwork grounded in the day-to-day experiences of families. We argue that “digital parenting” has become a crucial means by which society explores pressing dilemmas over how to live, what constitutes well-being, and what a “good life” is. The chapter explores how parents look backward to their childhood to reflect on how they were parented, and then forward to the conditions in which their children might themselves parent in the future. We begin by positioning parenting conceptually in relation to theories of late modernity and the risk society, but find we must give more emphasis to the importance of established (if changing) social structures and persistent social inequalities. Throughout the book, we reveal how it is through their everyday practices that families navigate between present desires and material constraints. The chapter then introduces three distinct genres for “digital parenting”—embrace, balance, and resist—as a way of understanding the particular constellations of practices, values, and imaginaries that are threaded throughout the stories of individuals and families that follow.Less
How should parents manage their children’s use of digital devices? Why do parents hope for so much from the digital world and yet fear it? The rights and wrongs of “digital parenting” are hotly contested within families, among policymakers, and in the media? To answer these questions, this chapter introduces fieldwork grounded in the day-to-day experiences of families. We argue that “digital parenting” has become a crucial means by which society explores pressing dilemmas over how to live, what constitutes well-being, and what a “good life” is. The chapter explores how parents look backward to their childhood to reflect on how they were parented, and then forward to the conditions in which their children might themselves parent in the future. We begin by positioning parenting conceptually in relation to theories of late modernity and the risk society, but find we must give more emphasis to the importance of established (if changing) social structures and persistent social inequalities. Throughout the book, we reveal how it is through their everyday practices that families navigate between present desires and material constraints. The chapter then introduces three distinct genres for “digital parenting”—embrace, balance, and resist—as a way of understanding the particular constellations of practices, values, and imaginaries that are threaded throughout the stories of individuals and families that follow.
Barbara Katz Rothman
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781479855308
- eISBN:
- 9781479846023
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479855308.003.0009
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter explores the relationship between “risk society” and both the food and the birth movements. The risks of industrialized food, the obesity epidemic, food-borne illnesses, and the image of ...
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This chapter explores the relationship between “risk society” and both the food and the birth movements. The risks of industrialized food, the obesity epidemic, food-borne illnesses, and the image of the ever-endangered fetus have driven a new approach to both food and birth as problems in “risk management.” The limitations of population and actuarial approaches to the complex problems of food and birth are addressed.Less
This chapter explores the relationship between “risk society” and both the food and the birth movements. The risks of industrialized food, the obesity epidemic, food-borne illnesses, and the image of the ever-endangered fetus have driven a new approach to both food and birth as problems in “risk management.” The limitations of population and actuarial approaches to the complex problems of food and birth are addressed.
Dan Bouk
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226259178
- eISBN:
- 9780226259208
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226259208.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter begins by rifling through the post-war American’s wallet exploring the ways that risk-making systems now permeate modern life through health insurance, credit cards, and shopper loyalty ...
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This chapter begins by rifling through the post-war American’s wallet exploring the ways that risk-making systems now permeate modern life through health insurance, credit cards, and shopper loyalty cards, as well as through federal mortgage support, predictive policing, and airport security checks. It also discusses the new ways that risk makers promise to improve individual lives and bodies through risk factors, genomics, and preventative medical screenings. It further explains how this book presents a history of the tools that have led risk managers and critical sociologists to contemplate and describe a risk society.Less
This chapter begins by rifling through the post-war American’s wallet exploring the ways that risk-making systems now permeate modern life through health insurance, credit cards, and shopper loyalty cards, as well as through federal mortgage support, predictive policing, and airport security checks. It also discusses the new ways that risk makers promise to improve individual lives and bodies through risk factors, genomics, and preventative medical screenings. It further explains how this book presents a history of the tools that have led risk managers and critical sociologists to contemplate and describe a risk society.
Joan C. Tronto
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198716341
- eISBN:
- 9780191784941
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198716341.003.0014
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter makes a large claim for theories of care: they now need to show how they offer a different analysis of social reality from more mainstream approaches in social science. The Weberian ...
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This chapter makes a large claim for theories of care: they now need to show how they offer a different analysis of social reality from more mainstream approaches in social science. The Weberian model of social science, which starts from the intentional action of actors and discovers the unintended consequences of their actions, is a model of social science that limits the scope of responsibilities. Using Ulrich Beck’s notion of “risk society” as exemplary of this approach to social science, this chapter proposes an alternative framing of social science. After a feminist critique of Beck, it considers how an ethic of care, with its attention to responsibility, brings different concerns to the fore. The chapter suggests that this alternative way of conceiving of social science better encompasses the kinds of concerns that social scientists now need to address.Less
This chapter makes a large claim for theories of care: they now need to show how they offer a different analysis of social reality from more mainstream approaches in social science. The Weberian model of social science, which starts from the intentional action of actors and discovers the unintended consequences of their actions, is a model of social science that limits the scope of responsibilities. Using Ulrich Beck’s notion of “risk society” as exemplary of this approach to social science, this chapter proposes an alternative framing of social science. After a feminist critique of Beck, it considers how an ethic of care, with its attention to responsibility, brings different concerns to the fore. The chapter suggests that this alternative way of conceiving of social science better encompasses the kinds of concerns that social scientists now need to address.
David G. Havlick
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226547541
- eISBN:
- 9780226547688
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226547688.003.0004
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
One way to understand military-to-wildlife transitions is through the framework of Risk Society offered by sociologist Ulrich Beck. Beck outlines the risks assumed by aging industrial societies and ...
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One way to understand military-to-wildlife transitions is through the framework of Risk Society offered by sociologist Ulrich Beck. Beck outlines the risks assumed by aging industrial societies and how these extend both over time and across space to impact nature and society. This chapter describes how military-to-wildlife land use changes fit the terms of risk society, and how these risks pose challenges to the environmental gains that seem to come from such transitions. It also examines how wildlife refuges created from military lands struggle to fit within usual categories of public lands.Less
One way to understand military-to-wildlife transitions is through the framework of Risk Society offered by sociologist Ulrich Beck. Beck outlines the risks assumed by aging industrial societies and how these extend both over time and across space to impact nature and society. This chapter describes how military-to-wildlife land use changes fit the terms of risk society, and how these risks pose challenges to the environmental gains that seem to come from such transitions. It also examines how wildlife refuges created from military lands struggle to fit within usual categories of public lands.
