Risk has become a key concept in western societies, People are encouraged to seek out information on risk and to take steps to avoid it as much as possible. Risk analysis, risk assessment and risk management are ever-expanding industries. We are now living in a 'risk' society. In this book, Deborah Lupton examines why risk has come to such prominence at this particular point in history. The author traces how risk has been constructed over time from pre-modernity to the later modern era and provides an introduction to the main theories surrounding the subject. She covers a wide range of issues including Risk and culture Sociocultural and scientific perspectives Blame, danger and trust Risk and pleasure. Including examples of the ways in which risk is experienced in everyday life, Risk provides a lively and engaging introduction to one of today's major sociocultural concepts and will be essential reading for students and teachers alike.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements Chapter 1. Introduction: Changes in the meaning of risk This book Chapter 2. Theorizing Risk: The cognitive science perspective Sociocultural perspectives Social construcitonist positions Concluding comments Chapter 3. Risk and culture: The importance of culture Purity, danger and the body Risk and blame The grid-group model Concluding comments Chapter 4. Risk and reflexive modernization: Beck and the 'risk society' Reflexive modernization Individualization Giddens' perspectives on risk Trust Concluding comments Chapter 5. Risk and governmentality: Governmentality From dangerousness to risk Contemporary risk strategies Concluding comments Chapter 6. Risk and subjectivity: Risk knowledges and relexivity Social structures and power relations Aesthetic and habitual dimensions Concluding comments Chapter 7. Risk and Otherness: Embodiment Hybridity and liminality The psychodynamics of Otherness Spatiality and Otherness Concluding comments Chapter 8. Risk and pleasure: Escape attempts and edgework Risk-taking as gendered performances Desire and transgression Concluding comments Bibliography Index
Author Biography
Deborah Lupton is Associate Professor in Cultural Studies and Cultural Policy and Director of the Centre for Cultural Risk Research at Charles Sturt University, Australia. Her latest books include The New Public Health: Health and Self in the Age of Risk (1996) and The Emotional Self (1998).
