Aaron Wildavsky & Mary Douglas 
Risk and Culture 
An Essay on the Selection of Technological and Environmental Dangers

Can we know the risks we face, now or in the future? No, we cannot; but yes, we must act as if we do. Some dangers are unknown; others are known, but not by us because no one person can know everything. Most people cannot be aware of most dangers at most times. Hence, no one can calculate precisely the total risk to be faced. How, then, do people decide which risks to take and which to ignore? On what basis are certain dangers guarded against and others relegated to secondary status?  This book explores how we decide what risks to take and which to ignore, both as individuals and as a culture.

Table of Content

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Can We Know the Risks We Face?

I Risks are Hidden

II Risks are Selected

III Scientists Disagree

IV Assessment is Biased

v The Center is Complacent

VI The Border is Alarmed

VII The Border Fears for Nature

VIII America is a Border Country

IX The Dialogue is Political

Conclusion: Risk is a Collective Construct

Notes

Index

About the author

Dame Mary Douglas, DBE, FBA (25 March 1921 – 16 May 2007) was a British anthropologist, known for her writings on human culture and symbolism, whose area of speciality was social anthropology. Douglas was considered a follower of Émile Durkheim and a proponent of structuralist analysis, with a strong interest in comparative religion. Aaron Wildavsky (May 31, 1930 – September 4, 1993) was an American political scientist known for his pioneering work in public policy, government budgeting, and risk management.