Understanding Risk Debates Through Mary Douglas: Environment, Inequality, and COVID-19

Philip Mark Linsley () and Alexander Philip Linsley
Additional contact information
Philip Mark Linsley: University of York Management School, University of York
Alexander Philip Linsley: Alne

A chapter in Risk Management, 2022, pp 1-16 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter suggests that neo-Durkheimian institutional theory as developed by Mary Douglas is a potentially useful way for understanding why different perspectives arise on difficult risk issues and why when the world is confronted with a number of potentially catastrophic risks, action does not swiftly follow. The theory proposes that within any group or organisation or society there will be four primary worldviews on risk and risk management present, and these arise because patterns of social relations shape how problems are interpreted and how solutions are configured. Within the chapter, the theory is adopted to analyse three major risk issues: the environment and climate change, inequality and poverty, and COVID-19. The nature of the impacts of COVID-19 appears to make it stand apart from the other two risks. It has much greater transparency; for example, it is evident it is causing significant numbers of people real hardship. Further, the virus took hold on our lives very rapidly. In this crisis, our vulnerabilities have been laid bare and it is this which may be the galvanising point around which a solution could be built that achieves buy-in from the holders of the four different risk perspectives.

Keywords: Risk; COVID-19; Mary Douglas; Neo-Durkheimian institutional theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

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:spr:rischp:978-3-030-88374-4_1

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783030883744

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-88374-4_1

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Risk, Governance and Society from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().