This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
Topics covered in this module will include
- The Social Semantics of Risk in Historical Perspective
- Ulrich Beck and the 'Risk Society'
- The 'Cultural Theory' of Risk
- Governmentality and Risk
- The ‘Perception of Risk’ in Sociological Perspective
- The ‘Management of Risk’ in Sociological Perspective
- Risk in Mass Media
- Risk, Subjectivity and ‘the endangered self’
- Transnational Risks and Civil Society
- World Risk Society: Retrospect and Prospect
Total contact hours: 22
Private study hours: 178
Total study hours: 200 hours
MA in Sociology
Main assessment methods
Coursework- essay (5000 words) – 100%
Reassessment methods
100% coursework
Arnoldi J. Risk (Oxford: Polity, 2009)
Beck U. Risk society: towards a new modernity (Sage, 1992)
Douglas M.and Wildavsky A. Risk and Culture: an essay on the selection of technical and environmental dangers (University of California, 1982)
Lupton D., Risk (London Routledge,1996)
Adams J.(1995) Risk (London : UCL Press, 1995)
Pidgeon N. et al. The Social Amplification of Risk (Cambridge UP, 2003)
Taylor-Gooby, P. and O. Zinn J. (eds.) (2006): Risk in Social Science. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Zinn J. (ed.) (2008): Social Theories of Risk and Uncertainty: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
8.1 have acquired a clear understanding of contrasting sociological approaches to the study of 'risk' in society;
8.2 identify and critically discuss the political values that underpin sociological theories of 'risk society'
8.3 to recognise the theoretical perspectives that inform empirical studies of risk perceptions and behaviours
8.4 communicate in written form the complexities of sociological debates on risk
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
9.1 demonstrate communication skills at an advanced level
9.2. Possess problem solving skills at an advanced level
9.3 working effectively with others
9.4 have improved their own learning techniques and competences
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