The sociology of risk and uncertainty. A response to Judith Green's "Is it time for the sociology of health to abandon'risk'?"

Abstract

This article responds to Judith Green's (2009, p. 493-508, this issue) contribution 'Is it time for the sociology of health to abandon "risk"?' It agrees with some of Green's criticisms of risk studies, but argues that rather than abandoning the concept of risk it should be refined and developed. Even though Green is right to have concerns about narrow approaches to social reality she follows a narrow perspective herself, which is atypical for sociological approaches to risk. She starts with criticism of the overemphasis on risk in research on the sociology of health but seem to shift to a general critique of risk research and focuses on one particular approach. Sociological risk research, I..