300110 Sociology of Risk (S) (WiSe 2018/2019)

The sociology of risk embraces a vast range of empirical phenomena, reaching from the complex organisational processes of nuclear aircraft carriers to the regulation of dangerous dogs or the prenatal diagnostics that inform medical decisions. While most sociological studies on risk are alike in that they problematize questions of decision-making and uncertainty, theoretically they have remained rather fragmented: The field branches out into rational choice theory, governmentality studies, cultural and systems theories.

The seminar invites to engage with three of those lines of thinking about risk: 1) the rational choice theories following Frank Knight’s distinction between risk and uncertainty; 2) Mary Douglas’s cultural theory that uses the concepts of risk and blame to explore the interrelations between knowledge and social structures; and 3) Niklas Luhmann’s publications in which he introduces the concept of danger as an antonym to risk.

Over the course of the semester students can acquire a basic understanding of each of those three approaches. First, we will discuss the writings of Knight, Douglas and Luhmann: How do they embed the concept of risk into their broader theoretical frame? What kind of social situations or settings do they presume for phenomena of risk? Which institutional contexts impact on risk communications? Second, we will explore the analytical capacities of those sociologies of risk by complementing our reading with empirical studies that draw inspiration from the respective theories. Although the initial emphasis of the seminar thus lies on assessing the three paradigms one by one, we will, as the semester progresses, increasingly start to ask how those approaches compare to one another.

Bibliography

Douglas, M., 1992: Risk and Blame: Essays in Cultural Theory. London: Routledge.
Knight, F.H., 1921: Risk, Uncertainty and Profit. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Luhmann, N., 1993: Risk: A Sociological Theory. Berlin: de Gruyter.