1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910455505503321

Autore

Douglas Mary <1921-2007.>

Titolo

Risk and culture [[electronic resource] ] : an essay on the selection of technological and environmental dangers / / Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, : University of California Press, 1982

ISBN

1-282-35523-6

9786612355233

0-520-90739-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (232 p.)

Altri autori (Persone)

WildavskyAaron B

Soggetti

Risk management

Risk

Risk - Social aspects

Risk assessment

Environmental impact analysis

Technology - Risk assessment

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Can We Know The Risks We Face? -- I. Risks are Hidden -- II. Risks are Selected -- III. Scientists Disagree -- IV. Assessment is Biased -- V. The Center is Complacent -- VI. The Border is Alarmed -- VII. The Border Fears For Nature -- VIII. America Is A Border Country -- IX. The Dialogue is Political -- Conclusion: Risk is a Collective Construct -- Notes -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

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.