Risk

Rose to prominence as a sociological issue with the 1992 publication of Ulrich Beck's Risk Society. Beck argued that as scientific knowledge expands our understanding of the world, so we also become more aware of the dangers we face. Contemporary societies are thus characterized by the prevalence of knowledge about danger and consequently all individuals, on an everyday basis, assess and attempt to manage risk. As this indicates, risk is socially and politically constructed; only certain aspects of life are defined as risky, but those that are become subject to regulation, while those not defined as such escape external intervention. Particular groups (e.g. young males) seem more tolerant of risk-taking than others. In spite of the fact that the public demands that the state works ...