Risk and Culture: An Essay on the Selection of Technological and Environmental Dangers

Mary Douglas; Aaron Wildavsky

Published by University of California Press 1983

Risk and Culture

An Essay on the Selection of Technological and Environmental Dangers

Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky

https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520907393

Overview
Contents

About this book

Can we know the risks we face, now or in the future? No, we cannot; but yes, we must act as if we do. Some dangers are unknown; others are known, but not by us because no one person can know everything. Most people cannot be aware of most dangers at most times. Hence, no one can calculate precisely the total risk to be faced. How, then, do people decide which risks to take and which to ignore? On what basis are certain dangers guarded against and others relegated to secondary status? This book explores how we decide what risks to take and which to ignore, both as individuals and as a culture.

Author / Editor information

Douglas Mary :

Dame Mary Douglas, DBE, FBA (25 March 1921 – 16 May 2007) was a British anthropologist, known for her writings on human culture and symbolism, whose area of speciality was social anthropology. Douglas was considered a follower of Émile Durkheim and a proponent of structuralist analysis, with a strong interest in comparative religion.

Aaron Wildavsky (May 31, 1930 – September 4, 1993) was an American political scientist known for his pioneering work in public policy, government budgeting, and risk management.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction: Can We Know The Risks We Face? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
I. Risks are Hidden Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	16
II. Risks are Selected Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
III. Scientists Disagree Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	49
IV. Assessment is Biased Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	67
V. The Center is Complacent Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
VI. The Border is Alarmed Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	102
VII. The Border Fears For Nature Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	126
VIII. America Is A Border Country Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	152
IX. The Dialogue is Political Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	174
Conclusion: Risk is a Collective Construct Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	186
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215

Language: English
Publisher: University of California Press
Pages
- Main content: 224

eBook

Published: October 27, 1983
ISBN: 9780520907393