Accounting for the Rise of Risk

Abstract

There are numerous theoretical accounts which relate the rise of risk to broader social transformations. In this chapter, I will briefly review these perspectives. It is worth noting that the literature on risk — what it is, where it comes from, how we can make sense of it, what can be done about it, the various approaches that might be used in doing so — is voluminous. It is beyond the scope of this chapter to do justice to the sheer complexity and diversity of these debates and perspectives. Rather, my intention is to focus on a number of key theoretical frameworks, as they represent a useful contextual backdrop for the analysis which follows.