Coverage of the Term Risk Society - Essay Example

Does the term risk society capture important features of recent social changes? Table of contents Content Page 1. Introduction 3 2. Risk 3-4 2.1. Awareness of risk 4 2.2. External and manufactured risk 4-5 3. Terrorism and risk 5 4. Technology and risk 6 5. Climate and risk 6-7 6. Relationships and risk 7 7. Health and risk 7-8 8. Media and risk 8 9. Conclusion 9 10. Bibliography 10 1. Introduction In order to determine whether the term ‘risk society’ captures the important features of recent social changes, we must first define “risk society’ and the social changes associated with it. ‘ Risk society’ is a term used to portray a society that is controlled in response to risk. According to sociologist Anthony Giddens, it is "a society increasingly preoccupied with the future (and also with safety), which generates the notion of risk" (Giddens1999:3). In the contemporary world, society is characterized by risks such as nuclear and chemical pollution, and new terrorism which shape the social changes such as increased social accountability, availability of information and most importantly a general paranoia within the society. 2. Risk ‘Risk can be defined in the risk society as a systematic way of dealing with hazards and insecurities induced and introduced by modernization itself’ (Beck 1992: 21). The most palpable point about risk is the main difference between risk and disaster. Risk does not necessarily mean disaster. Risk is actually the anticipation of disaster. Therefore it can be said that risks exist in an everlasting state of virtuality, and only become ‘relevant’ to the degree that they are likely. Risks are not ‘real’; they are in fact ‘becoming real’. ‘As soon as risks become real say an act of terrorism destroying the financial heart of New York - they cease to be risks and become catastrophes. Risks have already moved elsewhere: to the anticipation of further attacks, economic decline, or worldwide war.’ (Loon 2002) 2.1. The awareness of risk There has been a transformation in the awareness of risk by society. We have evolved to a society’ where what is significant is not whether the number or nature of risks have increased in their gravity, but that people feel that this is so and react accordingly. Obsessive worrying about ‘risk’ in contemporary social life has little to do with the actual frequency of life-threatening dangers. On the level of a single lifetime, i.e. in terms of life expectancy and level of freedom from grave disease, people in the modern societies are in a much more privileged position than were most in bygone eras. An imposing list follows of the ways in which the material security has been improved in modern societies; even so it is balanced by a list of fresh risks: terrorism, motor accidents, drugs, environmental pollution, etc. Both can be seen as results of the modernization. In terms of basic life security, nonetheless, the risk-reducing elements seem substantially to outweigh the new array of risks.’ (Giddens 1990) 2.2. External and manufactured risks Human beings have always been subjected to a level of ‘risk’; both external and manufactured. There ‘external risks’ are in the form of natural disasters which have always had disastrous effects on society, produced by natural forces. ‘Manufactured risks’, on the other hand are artificial, the product of human activity. Contemporary society is exposed to these risks that are the result of the modernization process itself. Thus manufactured risks are the main concern of a ‘risk society’. A significant level of human activity operates in the production and mitigation of the ‘manufactured risk’ whereas ‘external risks’ have no connection to human activity whatsoever. 3. Terrorism and risk Nowhere is the ‘risk’ more perceptible than in the current policy initiatives designed to fight terrorism. In the atmosphere of uncertainty in the UK since the July 2005 suicide bombings it is easy to see why terrorism has made a paranoid society willing to believe the worst and living in constant dread. There is a sinister perspective for the world after September 11th. It is that ‘uncontrollable risk is now irredeemable and deeply engineered into all the processes that sustain life in advanced societies’ (Beck, 2002a: 46). Indeed, the opinion that there is something exceptional and historically significant about the events of 9/11 has been reverberated throughout public opinion findings, ‘with over three quarters of British people believing that ‘the world has changed forever’ as a consequence of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington’ (Worcester, 2001: 7). The probability of a bio-terror attack against population centres is low, but the risk perceived by such an attack has been heightened and a climate of constant fear exists among the masses due to the collective effects of 9/11 and the following anthrax attacks. 4. Technology and risk From industrial pollution to food to GMO and vaccine scares, wherever we turn ‘technological risk’ appears to be at the top of the public conscience. Despite the fact that modern standards of safety are definitely superior to previous centuries today’s citizen live in mortal fear of breathing in poisoned air, ingesting contaminated food or just plain contracting an infectious disease. The BSE fracas in the UK and the epidemic of the mad cow disease is an example of ‘manufactured risk’ leading to disaster. In the UK a number of risk controversies such as Brent Spar, BSE, MMR, genetic modification of food, have fashioned a climate of anxiety and fear about the direction and supervision of our technological future. 5. Climate and risk Human intervention can not stop earthquakes or volcanic eruptions; they can be predicted within reasonably accurate ranges. These ‘external risks’ can be dealt with in terms both of structural provision as well as of emergency planning. Conversely the Tsunami disaster of 2006, the devastation of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, destruction of large regions in South America and Pakistan, show us how limited is modern societies claim, of controlling ‘external risks’, in the face of god sent calamities. The quality of the European environment is declining. Especially in the UK, there are grave concerns about the impact of this on biodiversity, individual health and wellbeing, social structure and the economic feasibility of a range of businesses, particularly in rural Britain. According to an IPPC report ‘nearly all European regions are anticipated to be at a negative risk by future impacts of climate change. Negative impacts will include increased risk of inland flash floods, and more frequent coastal flooding and increased erosion (due to storminess and sea level rise).’ 6. Relationships and risk The traditional structure of marriage and the family is no longer a given in today’s society. Previously, when people got married, they knew they were getting hooked for life. Growing up meant getting married, having a couple of kids, and settling down for life. This is still the case in the third world, but no longer in many western societies. In the UK, however, every personal relationship is full of risk. People are no longer secure in their relations. A marriage may last for thirty years or three or even as little as three months and then break up simply because one or both partners are bored with it. This has also led to risky child-parents relationships; children can never be sure that a parent will be there for him/her and consequently a whole generation is growing up insecure and susceptible to risky behavior. 7. Health and risk It cannot be denied that health has become a major international political issue. Risk awareness of HIV/AIDS and the spread of infectious disease are cause of great trepidation amongst the general public ‘What is politically crucial is ultimately not the risk itself but the perception of the risk. What men fear to be real is real in its consequences – fear creates its own reality’. Beck (2001) in the case of the SARS outbreak, the cases of infection other than health professionals internationally was limited, the risk was perceived as being very high. Modern society’s tendency towards hysteria is showcased by the panicked reactions in the west towards the SARS epidemic and the Avian flu scare. Despite the fact that these diseases were largely limited to the developing countries social and political reactions leaned towards the hysterical rather than a controlled and informed reaction more suited to an advanced society. 8. Media and risk It is apparent that the information media have a key role in influencing and shaping civic awareness of crime and risks. The news media are reliant upon attention-grabbing and sensational events, and often report on disasters that appeal to both base instincts and a common sense of morality. ‘The promotion or amplification of certain issues by the media can help set the agenda on a given issue and hence amplify or attenuate a sense of danger’ (Schlesinger et al., 1991). Thus media has both a positive and negative impact on risk awareness. Sensationalism and exaggeration by the media increases public anxiety and sometimes gives flames to non existent or minimal risks such as the SARS fracas. Media hype created risk where there was none and only the intervention by the WHO denying risk put a halt to the publics’ hysterical fear of getting infected. Hence media is a two edged sword that can inflame or suppress the publics fears and so all media should be handled in a responsible manner. 9. Conclusion The above facts denote the fact that risk filters through a range of cultural practices and experiences in modern society including work, relations, food consumption, leisure activities, security and health. In fact Modern society has become a ‘risk society’ .society is constantly manufacturing new risks and consequently obsessing over handling these true or perceived risks. Thus we can safely assume that all recent social changes are driven by society’s fears and awareness of risk and the term ‘risk society’ does indeed cover the important features of recent social changes. 10. Bibliography 1) Giddens,Antony (1990) The Consequences of Modernity, Cambridge: Polity 2) Giddens,Antony (1999) “Risk and Responsibility” Modern Law Review 62(1): 1-10. 3) Beck, Ulrich (1992) Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. London: SAGE Publications. 4) Beck, Ulrich (2001) ‘The Cosmopolitan State: Towards a Realistic Utopia’, Eurozine. Available at:http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2001–12–05-beck-en.html 5) Beck, Ulrich (2002a) ‘The Terrorist Threat: World Risk Society Revisited’, Theory, Culture & Society 19(4): 39–55. 6) Beck, Ulrich (2002b) ‘The Silence of Words and the Political Dynamics in the World’, Logos 1(4): 1–18. 7) Joost van Loon, Risk and Technological Culture: Towards a Sociology of Virulence (London, Routledge 2002), 2. 8) Schlesinger, P., H. Humber and G. Murdock (1991) ‘The Media Politics of Crime and Criminal Justice’, British Journal of Sociology 42(3): 397–420. 9) Worcester, R. (2001) ‘The World Will Never Be the Same: British Hopes and Fears After September11th 2001’, International Journal of Public Opinion Research. Available at: http://www.mori.com accessed 17/09/2008 Read More