Risk, Environment and Modernity

Professor Scott Lash is the Director of the Centre for Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths College, as well as a a project leader in the Goldsmiths Media Research Programme. He is a leading name within sociology and cultural studies, has written numerous books and articles over the last twenty years, and is currently the managing editor for the journal Theory, Culture and Society. I currently teach the twin courses FASS507, Introduction to the Philosophy of Social Science, and SOCL922, Philosophies of Social Science. I also teach a block on SOCL101, Introduction to Sociology.

`This is the strongest edited collection on the relationship between modernity, risk and the environment to be published to date and it deserves a place on the book shelf of every one who takes these issues seriously. Perhaps more importantly this book needs to be read by everyone who thinks that existing responses will ultimately "solve the environmental problem". The editors present the collection as a "slow manifesto" capable of transforming the reductionism and realism they see dominating both natural and social scientific approaches to the environment. In twelve essays, organised into three sections, considerable progress is made towards this ambitious goal. The terrain transversed in the process is intellectually stimulating and demanding but amongst it lie some of the clearest renditions of complex positions currently available.... the overall standard is so consistently high. The reader is provided with an extremely lucid and coherent guide to the terrain covered in the introduction... Summarising the overall argument of a book like this in a short review is inevitably hazardous but I would identify three main themes which are sustained throughout. First, there is a central recognition that empiricism can only provide society with data which in and of itself is no guide to action. Second, the production and interpretation of data is seen as inescapably tied to the normative judgements whether these are supplied by a scientific set of interpretative frames or not. Third, all knowledge needs to be seen as bearing the imprint of the social sites involved in its creation and thus inescapably carries moral, ethical and cultural markers and implications. This may sound like familiar and well rehearsed territory but one of the distinguishing features of this book is that these arguments are offered, not as an assault on empiricism and realism, but as an invitation to address an agenda with the potential to transform the normative use of both these terms.... The slow agenda has however, been eloquently reprised here and contains many sign-posts directing the willing towards fruitful avenues of exploration. This is a book with an important message one can only hope that it is read and widely debated′ - Environmental Politics`This book offers a set of interesting and thought-provoking essays discussing the complex relationship between modernity, environmentalism and the emergence of a risk society... It offers a wide review of relevant literature and is up to date with recent developments in its related fields. Moreover, it has a clear structure and chapters follow `naturally′ so that the reader can follow the thread of the arguments presented′ - Sociological Research Online`This book provides a welcome addition to the literature on environment and modernity by collecting papers from key contributors to the debates together in one volume. The wide-ranging subject matter of the papers in the collection should mean that it appeals to an audience beyond those specifically interested in environmental sociology. In this it represents an important move towards establishing discussion of the environment as central to contemporary sociology, rather than being confined to a marginal field of the discipline′ - British Journal of Sociology

• Introduction - Bronislaw Szerszynski, Scott Lash and Brian WynneEcology, Realism and the Social SciencesPART ONE: ENVIRONMENT, KNOWLEDGE AND INDETERMINACY: BEYOND MODERNIST ECOLOGY?Risk Society and Provident State - Ulrich BeckMay the Sheep Safely Graze? A Reflexive View of the Expert-Lay Knowledge Divide - Brian WynneRe-vision - Barbara AdamThe Centrality of Time for an Ecological Social Sciences PerspectiveOn Knowing What to Do - Bronislaw SzerszynskiEnvironmentalism and the Modern ProblematicPART TWO: RISK AND THE SELF: ENCOUNTERS AND RESPONSESLife as a Planning Project - Elizabeth Beck-GernsheimIndividualization at Work - Marco DianiOccupational Identity and Office AutomationThe Tears inside the Stone - John MaguireReflections on the Ecology of FearSolitary Individualization - Helmuth BerkingThe Moral Impact of Cultural Modernization in Late ModernityPART THREE: THE POLITICS OF THE ENVIRONMENT: EXHAUSTION OR RENEWAL?The Institutionalization of Environmentalism - Klaus EderEcological Discourse and the Second Transformation of the Public SphereThe Shaping of the Global Environmental Agenda - Andrew JamisonThe Role of Non-Governmental OrganizationsEcological Modernization as Cultural Politics - Maarten A HajerEnvironmental Knowledge and Public Policy Needs - Robin Grove-WhiteOn Humanising the Research Agenda