Risky Thinking
Irrational Fears about Risk and Society
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9774483 |
|---|---|
| Authors | William R Freudenburg (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1996 |
| Volume | 545 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 44-53 |
| Publication date | 1996-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-7162 • E-ISSN: 1552-3349 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0002716296545001005 |
| OpenAlex | W2162404015 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 16 |
| References cited | 12 |
Scientists have made remarkable progress in dealing with technical challenges but not in dealing with society. Given that public concerns have grown, in the face of declining “real” risks, the common if simplistic tendency has been to blame public ignorance or irrationality and to argue that policy decisions should be based on quantitative risk estimates, effectively ignoring public concerns. Such assertions are superficially plausible, but they reflect fundamental misunderstandings of the nature of technological societies, as well as of the reasons behind declining scientific credibility and of actual strengths and weaknesses of risk assessment. Scientific credibility has been undermined not so much by shadowy enemies as by actions of self-proclaimed friends, and there are inherent limitations to the practical usefulness of risk assessment in policy disputes. If proposals for risk-based decision making were actually implemented, they could well lead not to increased credibility for specific technologies but to self-reinforcing losses of credibility for science and technology as a whole
Blame · Business · Credibility · Economics · Face (sociological concept · Ignorance · Irrational number · Irrationality · Law and economics · Political science · Positive economics · Rationality · Risk analysis (engineering · Social science · Sociology · Uncertainty · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Global Energy and Sustainability Research · Law · Psychology · Risk Perception and Management · Social Psychology
Disaster risk assessment in South Africa
Evaluating what matters
David and Goliath in the Risk Society
Understanding Environmental Governance
Tacit knowledge and risk perceptions
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Evaluation of the Safety of Animal Clones
Trusting Judgements
Framing risk in pandemic influenza policy and control
Ethics in the Societal Debate on Genetically Modified Organisms
The US’ Food and Drug Administration, Normativity of Risk Assessment, GMOs, and American Democracy
Effective seasonal climate forecast applications
The Role of Institutional Trust in Industry, Government, and Regulators in Shaping Perceptions of Risk Associated with Hydraulic Fracturing in the United Kingdom
How Involvement, Citation Style, and Funding Source Affect the Credibility of University Scientists
Contamination, Corrosion and the Social Order
Reexamining Climate Change Debates
Different frames, different fears
Higher superstition
Normal Accidents
How Fair Is Safe Enough? The Cultural Approach to Societal Technology Choice 1
Biased Press or Biased Public? Attitudes Toward Media Coverage of Social Groups
Gender, Race, and Perception of Environmental Health Risks
Perceived Risk, Trust, and Democracy
Risk and Culture
Phantom Risk
Oil in Troubled Waters
The Interplay of Science and Values in Assessing and Regulating Environmental Risks
From Max Weber
| Unique citing works | 16 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,55 |
| Citation span | 1997 - 2023 (27) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 16 |