Risk and new realities: social ontology, expertise and individualization in the risk society

Philip Walsh

Chapter 8 in Handbook on Risk and Inequality, 2022, pp 128-142 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter examines the work of Ulrich Beck with respect to his linking of risk society theory with forms of inequality that derive from knowledge asymmetries and from individualization. Risk society theory is first shown to presuppose a distinct social ontology, which can be best understood from a critical realist perspective, and that this clarifies Beck's understanding of global economic and ecological risks. The chapter then examines the topic of expertise from a risk society perspective, showing how it gives rise to novel forms of uncertainty. The chapter then turns to the link between individualization and risk consciousness as this is developed in Beck's later work. Throughout, the chapter emphasizes Beck's contribution to understanding risk and inequality as interlinked phenomena in the contemporary world.

Keywords: Economics and Finance; Politics and Public Policy Sociology and Social Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781788972260/9781788972260.00017.xml (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:18499_8

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Darrel McCalla ().