Risk And Misfortune


Book Description

There has been a growing sociological interest in both risk and its management, and with how we cope with the uncertainties of late 20th- century life. Understanding accidents is the key to understanding the risk society, for accidents are both the paradigmatic challenge for risk technologies to predict the apparently unpredictable and the ultimate




Risk


Book Description

We are living in a world in which the existence of risk is constantly debated, misinformation and disinformation are rife and spread quickly and easily through online media, and where governments and institutions continue to avoid taking decisive action even when there is general agreement that a serious threat exists. Understanding how people, social groups and social organizations understand, respond to and act on threats, hazards and dangers is more important than ever. In Risk, Deborah Lupton asserts the ongoing importance of the analysis of risk in our age of permacrisis and mounting scepticism about experts and science, calling for a ‘re-turn’ to risk theory in the social sciences. The book outlines the three major approaches to risk in social and cultural theory, devoting a chapter to each. The first approach draws upon the work of Mary Douglas to articulate the cultural/symbolic perspective on risk. The second approach is that of the risk society perspective, based on the writings of Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens. The third approach covered is that of the governmentality perspective, which builds on Michel Foucault’s work. Three other chapters examine in detail the relationship between concepts of risk and concepts of selfhood and the body, the notion of Otherness and how this influences the ways in which people respond to and think about risk, and the pleasures of voluntary risk-taking, including discussion of edgework. An entirely new chapter has been added to this edition, focusing on the risks posed by misinformation and denial in the context of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter discusses the politics of post-truth cultures and the powerful networks of actor and organizations that together work to challenge science and manufacture dissent against attempts to tackle these crises. This new edition of Risk is an essential introduction to the topic of risk for students and academics in the social sciences and humanities.




Risk and Misfortune


Book Description

There has been a growing sociological interest in both risk and its management, and with how we cope with the uncertainties of late 20th- century life. Understanding accidents is the key to understanding the risk society, for accidents are both the paradigmatic challenge for risk technologies to predict the apparently unpredictable and the ultimate indicator of the limits of those technologies.; The book traces the emergence of the "accident" as a marginal misfortune in modernist thought, and its transformation into a "preventable" misfortune in the late 20th century. It identifies accidents as being crucial to self- conscious, rational modernity in the early 20th century: accidents which "just happen" marked the limits of rational explanation and only the irrational denied their existence. However, as an examination of Contemporary Medical And Health Promotion Writing Shows, The Accident should no longer happen. The rise of risk assessment constructs the accident as an essentially preventable misfortune.; This book should be of interest to students and sociologists working in the areas of social theory, risk, health and illness, and knowledge. It should also be of interest to those concerned about cultural change in the late 20th century, and the implications of risk assessment technologies.




COVID-19 and Risk


Book Description

Risk has emerged as a key mechanism for controlling the future and learning from past misfortunes. How did risk influence policy makers’ responses to COVID-19? How will they be judged for their decisions? Drawing on case studies from the UK, China, Japan, New Zealand and the US, this original text explores policy responses to COVID-19 through the lens of risk. The book considers how different countries framed the pandemic, categorised their populations and communicated risk. It also evaluates the role of the media, conspiracy theories and hindsight in shaping responses to COVID-19. As we reflect on the ‘first wave’, this book offers a vital resource for anticipating future responses to crises.




Spheres of Global Justice


Book Description

Spheres of Global Justice analyzes six of the most important and controversial spheres of global justice, each concerning a specific global social good. These spheres are democratic participation, migrations, cultural minorities, economic justice, social justice, and intergenerational justice. Together they constitute two constellations dealt with, in this collection of essays by leading scholars, in two different volumes: Global Challenges to Liberal Democracy and Fair Distribution. These essays illustrate each of the spheres, delving into their differences, commonalities, collisions and interconnections. Unlike many writings on global justice, Spheres of Global Justice does not content itself with describing the painful and advantageous effects of the globalization process as being ipso facto a global injustice or a just global order. Rather, this multidisciplinary collection of essays, from a pluralist inspiration, combines empirical analysis with theoretical approaches and ethical principles, paying close attention to two aspects of the effects of the globalization process. These aspects are the causal relationships that lead to such effects and the kinds of obligations, or of normative relationships between global rights and correlative duties, that applies to each specific individual case. This volume illustrates how diverse global obligations are, and how they can be, grounded in diverse relationships (identity, ability to provide help, causal responsibility, past injustices, protection of agency and promotion of independence, etc.). These essays also demonstrate that an ethical global approach has not only international or transnational, but also domestic, local and interpersonal dimensions.




Managing Uncertainty


Book Description

The overall focus of this book is the ways humans deal with life conditions, with destiny, uncertainty and misfortune - how we try to control the risks of living through medicines, technologies and magic. When dealing with questions of health and illness rational solutions and meaningful explanations may be hard to find, and treatment efforts are often guided just as much by hope as by rational choice. Evaluating the risks of illness is just one of a number of ways in which human beings attempt to exert some sense of control over their lives. New methods of testing for ills and new developments in, for example, genetic screening and in vitro fertilisation combined with the growing demands of well-informed patients seem to have turned concern from the actual problems of specific diseases toward controlling life and the risks of living in general. The chapters of this book reflect a common effort to transgress the limits of the medical by drawing on a fundamental concern with the logic of social and cultural practice. The book represents a de-medicalization of medical anthropology and a return to some of the classic themes in anthropology but with a different approach, emphasizing subjectivity, intentionality and agency.




Implementing Enterprise Risk Management


Book Description

A practical, real-world guide for implementing enterprise risk management (ERM) programs into your organization Enterprise risk management (ERM) is a complex yet critical issue that all companies must deal with in the twenty-first century. Failure to properly manage risk continues to plague corporations around the world. ERM empowers risk professionals to balance risks with rewards and balance people with processes. But to master the numerous aspects of enterprise risk management, you must integrate it into the culture and operations of the business. No one knows this better than risk management expert James Lam, and now, with Implementing Enterprise Risk Management: From Methods to Applications, he distills more than thirty years' worth of experience in the field to give risk professionals a clear understanding of how to implement an enterprise risk management program for every business. Offers valuable insights on solving real-world business problems using ERM Effectively addresses how to develop specific ERM tools Contains a significant number of case studies to help with practical implementation of an ERM program While Enterprise Risk Management: From Incentives to Controls, Second Edition focuses on the "what" of ERM, Implementing Enterprise Risk Management: From Methods to Applications will help you focus on the "how." Together, these two resources can help you meet the enterprise-wide risk management challenge head on—and succeed.




Sweet Misfortune


Book Description

Sophie owns a chocolate shop where she sells Misfortune Cookies-dipped in bitter chocolate they contain messages she handwrites each day such as "Your car seems fine now, but just wait...it will eventually be a source of frustration and unexpected delay." What starts as a gimmick, turns into a surprise hit with customers. But when her ex-fiancée moves back to their small Washington town, he is surprised at how bitter and unhappy Sophie has become. He proposes a bet--she must place an ad in the paper that simply states "Wanted: Happiness." If at least 100 people respond, proving happiness isn't a myth, she agrees to a date with him. If not, he'll leave her alone forever. Sophie is convinced she'll win, but fate has other ideas when a reporter at the paper is intrigued by the ad as a story and posts it in newspapers across the country.




Governing Risks


Book Description

Contemporary law and government are increasingly characterized by a focus on risk. Fields such as health, psychiatry, criminal justice, vehicle safety, urban design and environmental governance all provide examples of settings in which problems are dealt with as risks. While risk has become more prominent, there have also been changes in the nature of risk techniques deployed. Whereas welfare states provided many services through socialized risk - such as social insurances covering health, employment and old age - increasing emphasis is now placed on individual risk management arrangements such as private insurance. In this environment, the positive side of risk has also been made more salient. Enterprise, innovation and risk-taking have become qualities valued, or even required, of current governance. In this volume, the most influential examinations and interpretations of this major trend have been brought together, in order to make clear the range and diversity, the spread and penetration of risk in contemporary societies.




Oracles, Curses, and Risk Among the Ancient Greeks


Book Description

How did ancient Greek men and women deal with the uncertainty and risk of everyday life? What did they fear most, and how did they manage their anxieties? Esther Eidinow sets side-by-side two collections of material usually studied in isolation: binding curse tablets from across the ancient world, and the collection of published private questions from the oracle at Dodona in north-west Greece. Eidinow uses these texts to explore perceptions of risk and uncertainty in ancient society, challenging previous explanations. In these records we hear voices that are rarely, if ever, heard in literary texts and history books. The questions and curses in these tablets comprise fervent, sometimes ferocious appeals to the gods. The stories they tell offer tantalizing glimpses of everyday life, carrying the reader through the teeming ancient city - both its physical setting and its social dynamics. Among these tablets we find prostitutes and publicans, doctors and soldiers, netmakers and silver-workers, actors and seamstresses. Anxious litigants ask the gods to silence their opponents. Men inquire about the paternity of their children. Women beg the gods to help them keep their men. Business rivals try to corner the market. Slaves plead to escape their masters. This material takes us beyond the headlines of ancient history, offering new insights into institutions, activities, and relationships. Above all, individually and together, these texts help us to understand some of the ways in which ancient Greek men and women understood the world. In turn, the beliefs and activities of an ancient culture may shed light on modern attitudes to risk.