Risky Business
Risk-taking and -making in the midst of a pandemic
“The word risk has acquired new prominence,” wrote anthropologist Mary Douglas in 1990. “One popular explanation is that risks from technology have greatly increased. They have indeed, in all the industrial world. But some other risks have decreased, at least if the figures for mortality and morbidity mean anything.” How do we understand risk — especially in the midst of a global pandemic — and what are the domino effects of being forewarned but not forearmed? Who reaps the rewards, and who shoulders the burdens? This week, Leigh examines risk as a theoretical concept that’s challenging to understand in practice. And yet, as Douglas concludes, “risk is a word that admirably serves the forensic needs of the new global culture.”
(Photos © FreeImages/Maria Kaloudi and Dora Mitsonia)
To skip the intro, fast forward to the 2:24 mark.
- 2:00pm Default User by Live
