Rethinking Risk and the Precautionary Principle
Published on 19. September 2000
Book
Paperback/Softback
294 pages
978-0-7506-4683-3 (ISBN)
Description
Rethinking Risk and the Precautionary Principle challenges the claim that the precautionary principle is an appropriate guide to public policy decision-making in the face of uncertainty.
The precautionary principle is frequently invoked as a justification for regulating human activities. From bans on the use of growth hormones in cattle to restrictions on children's playground activities, precautionary thinking seems to be taking over our lives. As the contributors to this book show, such an approach is of dubious utility and may even be counterproductive.
This is a timely and important contribution to the debate on how to manage risk in the modern world. The editor, Julian Morris, is Director of the Environment and Technology Programme at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London. He has written widely on issues relating to environmental protection and technological development.
The precautionary principle is frequently invoked as a justification for regulating human activities. From bans on the use of growth hormones in cattle to restrictions on children's playground activities, precautionary thinking seems to be taking over our lives. As the contributors to this book show, such an approach is of dubious utility and may even be counterproductive.
This is a timely and important contribution to the debate on how to manage risk in the modern world. The editor, Julian Morris, is Director of the Environment and Technology Programme at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London. He has written widely on issues relating to environmental protection and technological development.
Reviews / Votes
"this book will be of interest to OHS and environmental managers, practitioners and those studying at diploma or degree level for professional qualifications in these fields. If you have never encountered risk other than in the context of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, then this will provide some thought-provoking perspectives." Safety and Health Practitioner, Feb. 2002"This is an illuminating expolration of a wide variety of real and imagined risks, and some of the more absurd responses of modern societies to them" --Trans IChemE, Vol. 79, July 2001
"The book is strongly recommended to the many undergraduate students of different disciplines whom are now introduced to health and safety, and to the many professionals now faced with such issues. It will help develop a healthy scepticism so necessary for the professional faced with ever increasing political interference, bureaucracy and regulation." --Professor Sir Bernard Crossland, CBE, FRS, FREng, in The Hazards Forum Newsletter, Spring 2001
"'For a view of risk at the level of society at large, and for a wider perspective on risk in general, it is an interesting read." --Health and Safety at Work, April 2001
"Morris is an intelligent and thought-provoking editor, who has gathered within the covers of a single book some of the best and brightest brains in the field of risk assessment and management. The chapter on global warming and Kyoto, by Bruce Yandle, should be made compulsory reading for every green fanatic." --Yorkshire Post - 5th April 2001
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Elsevier Science & Technology
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Scientists and policy-makers, health and safety professionals and students.
Professionals and academics in public administration and politics.
Government and regulatory authorities.
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
470 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7506-4683-3 (9780750646833)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Julian Morris
Rethinking Risk and the Precautionary Principle
E-Book
09/2000
Butterworth-Heinemann
€52.95
Available for download
Person
Content
1. Defining the Precautionary Principle, Julian Morris2. Trial and Error vs Trial Without Error, Aaron Wildavsky3. The Precautionary Principle and Our Obligations to Future Generations, Wilfred Beckerman4. Precaution, GM Crops and Farmland Birds, Tony Gilland5. Genetically Modified Fear and Interntational Regulation of Biotechnology, Henry Miller and Gregory Conko 6. Asteroid Collisions and Precautionary Thinking, Charles Rubin7. Child Protection and the Precautionary Principle, Helene Guldberg8. Plastic Panics: European Risk Regulation in the Aftermath of BSE, Bill Durodie9. The Precautionary Principle as a Force for Global Political Centralization -- a case-study of the Kyoto Protocol, Bruce Yandle10. Applying the Precautionary Principle in a Broader Context, Indur Goklany11. A Richter Scale for Risk? John Adams12. Facts vs Factions - the use and abuse of subjectivity in scientific research, Robert Matthews