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Precautionary culture and the rise of possibilistic risk assessment

Furedi, Frank (2009) Precautionary culture and the rise of possibilistic risk assessment. Erasmus Law Review, 2 (2). p. 197. ISSN 2210-2671. (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:40324)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
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Abstract

The shift from probabilistic to possibilistic risk management characterises contemporary cultural attitudes towards uncertainty. This shift in attitude is paralleled by the growing influence of the belief that future risks are not only unknown but are also unknowable. Scepticism about the capacity of knowledge to help manage risks has encouraged the dramatisation of uncertainty. One consequence of this development has been the advocacy of a precautionary response to threats. This article examines the way in which precautionary attitudes have shaped the response to the threat of terrorism and to the millennium bug. The main accomplishment of this response has been to intensify the sense of existential insecurity.

Item Type: Article
Additional information: number of additional authors: 0;
Uncontrolled keywords: precautionary principle, possibilistic risk assessment
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User: Stewart Brownrigg
Date Deposited: 07 Mar 2014 00:05 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:15 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/40324 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Furedi, Frank.

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