Suchergebnisse

Introduction : the contribution of sociology to the discourse on risk and uncertainty / Jens O. Zinn -- Risk society and reflexive modernization / Jens O. Zinn -- Governmentality and risk / Pat O'Malley -- Systems theory and risk / Klaus-Peter Japp and Isabel Kusche -- Edgework, risk, and uncertainty / Stephen Lyng -- Culture and risk / John Tulloch -- A comparison of sociological theorizing on risk and uncertainty / Jens O. Zinn.

"Ungleichheitsforschung aus der Perspektive traditioneller Strukturindikatoren vernachlässigt die Handlungs- und Entscheidungsperspektiven der Akteure. Dies wird vor allem dann fragwürdig, wenn sozialer Wandel oder unterwartete und unwahrscheinliche Handlungsweisen einer Erklärung zugänglich gemacht werden sollen. Der Beitrag schlägt daher einen Wechsel von der Struktur- zur Akteursperspektive vor. Unter Rückgriff auf Giddens' Theorie der Strukturierung werden soziale Mechanismen und die Gestaltungsweisen junger Fachkräfte in sechs Ausbildungsberufen in den Blick genommen. Unter Bezug auf Ungleichheitsstrukturen wird gezeigt, wie sich junge Fachkräfte in den ersten Berufsjahren unter Rückgriff auf biographische Ressourcen und eigene Wünsche mit ihren beruflichen Handlungskontexten auseinandersetzen und spezifische Muster der Gestaltung ihrer Berufsbiographie stabilisieren. Die übersituativen Muster der Biographiegestaltung werden mit einer Typologie der "berufsbiographischen Gestaltungsmodi" (BGM) unterschieden. Die Modi stehen in keinem beliebigen Verhältnis zu ihren Handlungskontexten. Vielmehr müssen sie zu ihnen "passen"; dabei handelt es sich um ein lockeres, kein deterministisches Verhältnis. Obwohl die BGM relativ stabil sind, können auch zwei grundsätzliche Varianten ihres Wechsels beobachtet werden. Zum einen als Folge grundlegender Veränderungen des beruflichen Kontextes (z.B. durch Betriebswechsel) und zum anderen ausgelöst durch veränderte Bilanzierungen der Berufssituation. Es wird gezeigt, wie sich die jungen Fachkräfte mit den jeweiligen BGM in spezifischer Weise an ihre Handlungskontexte binden (Autonomiegewinn, Karrieregestaltung, Statusarrangement) und damit unterschiedlich von Arbeitsmarktentwicklungen betroffen sind." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

1. Introduction -- 2. Understanding Social and Linguistic Change -- 3. At Risk-Constructs as Research Object: Research Design and Methods -- 4.Risk in The Times - 1950s to 2000s -- 5. People and Valued Objects at Risk in The Times - 1780s to 2000s -- 6. From Substantial Risk to Social Relations and Rhetoric -- 7. Institutional Strategies and a New Quality -- 8. Changes in News Production and Linguistic Change -- 9. Social Forces and the Proliferation of at Risk-Language

1. Introduction -- 2. The Meaning of Risk -- 3. Different Disciplines -- 4. The Notion of Risk-Taking -- 5. Key Characteristics of Risk-Taking -- 6. Negotiating Social Forces -- 7. Responsibilisation: Blaming or Empowering Risk-Taking -- 8. Reasonable Risk-Taking in Everyday Life -- 9. Conclusions and Perspectives

Even though risk-taking is a common and widespread social experience sociological theorizing on the concept is scarce. This contribution aims to systematize and advance understanding of risk-taking and its different forms and how these connect to social inequalities and the social machinery. It considers risk-taking in the context of the debate about Bourdieu's theory of practice and Archer's theory of morphogenesis before suggesting a conceptual framework that outlines different rationales, dimensions, and the role of agency for understanding risk-taking as an individual and as a collective activity. The concept highlights the ambivalent character of risk-taking as an expression and mode of reproducing inequalities and a crucial resource to overcome disadvantage and foster social change.

Examining long term social change is one of the most rewarding but time-consuming challenges for sociological research. Historical analyses are often the only way to understand present-day social conditions such as the perception and management of risk in the UK. This article reports research which breaks new ground by utilising corpus linguistic tools to examine the proliferation of risk words in The Times (London) from the 19th to the 21th century. The article develops a corpus sociological approach to show that socio-structural changes, institutional practices and socially relevant events have supported the proliferation of 'at risk'. The early dominance of insurance, trading and economics and the rise of epidemiology at the early 20th century has increasingly been replaced by reporting of job insecurity and lives, children, patients and people being 'at risk' in the second half of the 20th and beginning of 21st century. This time is also characterised by a dominance in reporting of people are put or putting themselves 'at risk'. These remarkable changes are accompanied by the huge increase of risk words in media coverage supporting the view that they have driven the proliferation of the 'at risk' construct in media coverage.

In social policy debates and research over recent years, 'risk', 'social inclusion' and 'the life course' have become influential topics. In this themed section we will revisit these concepts and analyse how they have influenced policy debates and research in Australia and elsewhere. The contributions were developed as part of a research collaboration that brings together expertise from social policy, gender studies, risk sociology, social work, youth studies and research on ageing and old age. This introduction outlines the concepts and dimensions we found helpful for analysing social policy practice and research and the key arguments of the contributions.

'Risk', 'social inclusion' and the 'life course' have become key notions in social policy after the Golden Age of welfare capitalism. This article reviews some of the key debates and developments in Australian social policy and research that underpin the contributions to this themed section. From 'new social risks' to 'the great risk shift' and the broader debates about the 'risk society' and 'governmentality', it reviews debates about social inclusion and the individualisation of risk, the risk shift in service delivery and the understanding and researching of the new life course. It concludes with suggestions for more community based research to inform social policy.

How individuals deal with risk and uncertainties in the context of an organizational culture is a neglected area in the sociology of risk and uncertainty. This contribution reports from an explorative qualitative study (n=14) which examines the intersection of biographical experiences and organizational culture in the perspective of risk and uncertainty. This study with ex-serviceman of the British Armed Forces Shows that coming from different biographical contexts, young adults become soldiers for different reasons and they experience their time as soldiers differently. Some chose the certainty culture of the military as a life perspective; others see it rather as a stage in their life. It is the group which assimilates most into military culture which has serious problems with the transition into civil life. But these problems seem to be rooted in the way in which soldiers adopt the military certainty culture rather than the transition itself. Soldiers who maintain competing interpretations and biographical projects are less assimilated but better prepared to deal with all kinds of issues such as drinking culture, ethical and life and death issues.