Sociology and the Art of Risk

Abstract

In contemporary society, risk has become an ever-present issue that appears across a range of social domains, such as health, welfare, crime, national security and the environment. High-profile risk incidents such as 9/11, the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans have served to underscore the global significance of risk. Although risk has conventionally been approached in the natural sciences as an object to be technically mastered by mathematical probability, since the early 1980s social scientists have focussed on the subjective and social dimensions of risk. This article traces the contours of the ‘turn to risk’ within sociology, outlining the central tenets of the risk society, governmentality and sociocultural theories. Both the utility of and the limits to these theories are demonstrated through practical application. The article concludes by considering some of the problems and contradictions that arise out of the sociological turn to risk.