The Risk Society Revisited

Eugene A. Rosa (1941-2013) was the Edward R. Meyer Distinguished Professor of Natural Resource and Environmental Policy, Professor of Sociology, Affiliated Professor of Fine Arts, and Faculty Associate in the Center for Environmental Research, Education, and Outreach at Washington State University. Ortwin Renn is Professor and Chair of Environmental Sociology and Technology Assessment at Stuttgart University (Germany). He directs the Stuttgart Research Center for Interdisciplinary Risk and Innovation Studies at Stuttgart University (ZIRIUS) and the non-profit organization DIALOGIK, dedicated to facilitate the dialogue between science, technology, and society. Aaron M. McCright is Associate Professor of Sociology in Lyman Briggs College, the Department of Sociology, and the Environmental Science and Policy Program at Michigan State University.

Foreword: Risk Society as Political Category, by Ulrich Beck Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Sketching the Contemporary Era Part I. Social Science Foundations of Risk 1 Meta-Theoretical Foundations 2 An Evolution of Risk: Why Social Science Is Needed to Understand Risk Part II. Risk and Social Theory 3 Overarching Perspective: The Rational Action Framework 4 Refl exive Modernization Theory and Risk: The Work of Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens 5 Risk in Systems: The Work of Niklas Luhmann 6 Jrgen Habermas and Risk: An Alternative to RAP? Part III. Risk Governance: Links between Theory and Strategy 7 The Emergence of Systemic Risks 8 The Three Companions of Risk: Complexity, Uncertainty, and Ambiguity 9 Risk Governance: A Synthesis 10 An Analytic-Deliberative Process: A Proposal for Better Risk Governance Conclusion: Risk Governance as a Catalyst for Social Theory and Praxis References Index