Edgework, Uncertainty and Social Character

This paper proposes a novel conceptual understanding of ‘edgework’ – a term denoting the voluntary embrace of risk - by drawing on the longstanding sociological tradition of character studies. In so doing, it addresses the paradox that while first-generation research into high-risk leisure suggested that these activities provided identity-affirming escapes from bureaucratized capitalism, second-generation writings argued that edgework exists in harmony with the norms of ‘risk societies’, raising questions about its continuing appeal. Developing a new analytical perspective with which to assess these views, we argue that the former studies should be understood in the context of challenges to ‘other-directed’ characterological forms prominent within the post-War era, while the latter signal the embodiment of edgework within emergent ‘opportunity-directed’ modalities of social character. This interpretation explains the enduring attractions of edgework alongside its changed social role, and also signals its utility as a prism through which to observe broader characterological changes.