Risk in the Modern Age

List of Figures List of Tables List of Contributors Preface SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION Sociology, Social Theory, and Risk: An Introductory Discussion; M.J.Cohen SECTION 2: CRITIQUES OF RISK AND RATIONALITY The Rational Action Paradigm in Risk Theories: Analysis and Critique; O.Renn, C.Jaeger, E.A.Rosa & T.Webler Menus of Choice: The Social Embeddedness of Decisions; K.Purcell, L.Clarke & L.Renzulli SECTION 3: THEORETICAL EXTENSIONS OF THE RISK SOCIETY Dealing with Environmental Risks in Reflexive Modernity; J.Hogenboom, A.Mol & G.Spaargaren The Risk Society Reconsidered: Recreancy, The Division of Labor, and Risks to the Social Fabric; W.R.Freudenburg SECTION 4: EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENTS OF REFLECTIVE MODERNIZATION Outsiders Just Don't Understand: The Need for Contextual Inquiry About Life in the Contaminated World; M.Edelstein The Exxon Valdez Disaster as Localized Environmental Catastrophe: Dis(similarities) to the Risk Society; J.S.Picou & D. Gill SECTION 5: RISK AND ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION-MAKING Discovering and Inventing Extreme Environments: Sociological Knowledge and Publics At Risk; S.R.Couch, S.Kroll-Smith & J.Kinder Scientific Evidence or Lay People's Experience? On Risk and Trust with Regard to Modern Environmental Threats; R.Lidskog Taming Risks Through Dialogue: The Social Function of Discursive Institutions in Late Modernity; K.Eder Section 6: CONCLUSION An Historical Perspective on Risk; D.Lowenthal Index