Risk: A Sociological Theory

by Niklas Luhmann, Nico Stehr (Introduction), Rhodes Barrett (Translator), Rhodes Barrett (Translator)

Overview

A great deal of attention has been devoted to risk research. Sociologists in general have limited themselves to varying recognitions of a society at risk and have traced out the paths to disaster. The detailed research has yet to be undertaken. In Risk, now available in paperback, Niklas Luhmann develops a theoretical program for such research. His premise is that the concept of risk projects essential aspects of our description of the future onto the present. Risk is conceived as the possibility of triggering unexpected, unlikely, and detrimental consequences by means of a decision attributable to a decision maker.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780202307640
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/28/2005
Series:	Communication and Social Order Series
Pages:	270
Sales rank:	786,164
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.61(d)

About the Author

Nico Stehr is Karl Mannheim Professor of Cultural Studies at Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen, Germany. He is a fellow of the Royal Society (Canada) and a fellow of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Editorial Reviews

Luhmann develops a general theory of risk in modern societies, beginning with a geometry of precise definitions that differentiates risk from danger and that views risk from the perspective of a self-conscious actor who attributes calculable outcomes to a projected future… Luhmann's essay will encourage continued theoretical reflection and provide the impetus for a more theoretically informed research agenda pertaining to risk and modernity. Advanced undergraduate; graduate; faculty.” —J. H. Rubin, Choice

From the Publisher