Risk and Society

“!this is a very good book – an easy and informative read on a topic of immense complexity and very enjoyable. The layout is excellent, with clear headings, a useful three-part structure and good-quality print. !This book will undoubtedly find its market niche and become a ‘good risk read’”. – British Journal of Social Work 36 (3) 2006 What does it mean to live in ‘risk society’? How does the idea of risk change how we live with each other? Risk currently dominates individual and collective consciousness. Globally, insecurity is related to terrorism, pollution, global epidemics and famine, yet smoking, sunlight and travel have also become major preoccupations. This book provides a powerful and lucid account of risk in society today. Denney critically examines the social construction of risk, by considering a range of social theories, addressing the literature and providing an authoritative guide to the key issues raised. An analysis of the nature of risk to aspects of everyday life — of the meanings which have been assigned to notions of risk — is also considered.
Finally, global themes such as terrorism, global regulation governance and developments in international relations are examined. This book will be required reading for students of risk within the fields of Sociology, International Relations and Media, Culture and Communications.