Risk, Vulnerability and Everyday Life by Iain Wilkinson

Author:Iain Wilkinson [Wilkinson, Iain]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780415370806
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2009-07-03T00:00:00+00:00

4

RISK IN SOCIAL CONTEXT

There is more to sociology than questions of power and politics. Whilst social theorists of risk are chiefly preoccupied with the ideological bearing of risk discourse upon society, it is possible to find many other forms of sociological inquiry into this phenomenon. In this respect, there is the important matter of establishing the social meaning of risk in everyday life. A great deal of sociological work is not so much concerned with advancing frameworks for the analysis of politics and power relations, but, rather, is committed to exposing the ordinary and situated ways in which individuals and groups perceive, talk about and respond to risk across a broad range of institutional contexts and social settings.

To some readers it may seem strange to note that in many instances there is a lack of fit between the theoretical discourse of sociology and discoveries made through empirical research. Certainly, in the context of risk research, findings drawn from empirical studies of risk attitudes and behaviours often serve to cast suspicion on claims advanced at the level of theory. Arguably, it is the case that when brought under the demand for empirical research evidence, substantial components of proposals raised by cultural narratives on ‘risk and modernity’ are exposed as no more than castles in the air; they appear too far removed from the social realities of everyday life (Irwin et al. 1999; Wilkinson 2001b). More often than not, when priority is given to interpreting the wider cultural and/or political meanings of risk in our times, then commentators pay little heed to the task of establishing how people actually talk about and respond to this (if at all!) as a matter of everyday social routine; the high tones of ‘academic’ discourse are favoured to the cost of opinions expressed in the ‘ordinary’ languages of work and family life. All too easily it seems that when sights are set upon advancing a ‘grand theory’ of society, the empirical task of detailing the ways in which problems of risk feature in lived experience is treated as a peripheral concern.

In this chapter I provide a critical overview of empirical research into risk attitudes and behaviours. This serves to highlight some of the discrepancies between the representations of risk society found in social theory and discoveries made though empirical research. However, it also draws attention to the methodological problems faced by researchers venturing into the field. Indeed, rather than amend theoretical conceptions of risk society with empirical understanding, I suggest that, in many instances, empirical studies of risk attitudes and behaviours have done more to highlight problems of research design and practice. In the final analysis, I hold that these methodological problems are of such an order that the cumulative findings of empirical studies of risk perception research serve more to underline our ignorance about the lived experience of risk than make this clear to sociological understanding.

A key point of contention here concerns the analytical status of ‘social context’ and the ways this is made the object of research.

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