The danger culture of industrial society

Abstract

How do we appear to handle danger in our culture? That is the main, sociological question, I want to discuss, and our responses to chemicals are a particularly good entrance point. So I am not addressing problems like the health risks of a chemical or procedures of standard setting. Such technical questions are obviously important, but they are not the whole story. Nor is the psychology of risk perception my first concern. Both technical and psychological questions should be seen as embedded in social and cultural patterns. It is the socio-cultural aspect that I want to highlight. Not only because it is important by itself, and has often been neglected,1 but also because it will allow me to explore some of the normative issues of risk communication as one part of how we handle dangers in our society.