Performing risks

Catharsis, carnival and capital in the risk society

Bibliographic Data

ID12601164
AuthorsShirley Morrissey (0000-0001-8596-026X, University of Aberdeen, corresponding author), Sean Afnan Morrissey
Year2008
Volume11
Issue4
Pages413-427
Publication date2008-08-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Youth Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1367-6261 • E-ISSN: 1469-9680
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13676260802139713
OpenAlexW2041073964
LanguageEN
Citations received18
References cited25

This article examines different forms of voluntary risk-taking behaviour amongst young people living and learning in a risk society. It draws on research conducted with a Scottish dance-education company and a synthesis of Elisian, Bakhtinian and Bourdieusian theories. It argues that risk-taking may be particularly alluring in ‘societies of caution’ in which youth experience significant levels of control and surveillance in schools and other heavily supervised contexts, and may also offer young people a means of solving some of the challenges presented by the risk society. However, access to relatively safe and supervised activities like (e.g. bungee jumping) is limited by the possession of various capital resources. Spontaneous and unregulated acts (e.g. trolley surfing) require far fewer capital resources. The study shows that successfully performing risks can assist young people to secure positions of belonging and status within desirable peer groups and to develop culturally venerated identities. Risk is often synonymous with hegemonic masculinity and, for young men specifically, voluntary risk-taking may be function as a strategy for avoiding culturally denigrated categories like ‘wimp’ and ‘sissy’. Thus, the paper is able to demonstrate the commonality of a range of activities, from physical risks to ‘identity risks’

Capital (architecture · Cultural capital · Dance · Economic capital · Economic growth · Economics · Human capital · Masculinity · Political science · Possession (linguistics · Public relations · Risk society · Social capital · Social science · Sociology · Adventure Sports and Sensation Seeking · Gender Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts · Sports, Gender, and Society

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