Tamed risks?
Contemporary challenges
Living in “uncertainty” and the risks associated with this contemporary condition are enduring pillars of postmodernity, an inevitable consequence of the technological revolution generating profound shifts in modern culture, politics and the economy. The risk landscape is constantly changing, and we are continuously struggling to overcome the negative consequences of risk phenomena, as a result reinforcing social vulnerabilities. Risk factors (opportunities or threats) can be diverse, complex, highly mediated or fuzzy, capable of manifesting themselves with varying frequency or intensity.
The inevitability of risks in our daily lives, in our relationships with other people, with nature, and in our interactions with intelligent machines is the result of the new ways that science and industry generates ignorance distribution related to risks. The effect of the uncontrolled proliferation of risks at the global and local, individual and collective levels is a shift from traditional, easily measurable risks toward more ephemeral and abstract phenomena. Facing them requires realizing the consequences of risks and overcoming uncertainty. The growing complexity and intangibility of our world creates the need for new theories, methodologies and tools for understanding and taming risks.
In the clash with technologies which become from of people’s control, the sociologist in postmodernity, faces the tough task of identifying/embracing and creating a broader framework of interpretation, as well as giving meanings to the new symptoms, forms and effects of risks. The constant challenge is to try to reign in, or at least tame, risk phenomena, as well as to take advantage of emerging development opportunities. From the risks emerging in cyberspace, to the dangers generated by algorithmization and automation, to the problems of climate change, the sociologist’s ambition should be to understand the impact of risks on human relations, human-machine relations, socialization processes, the changing dynamcis of social structures, and changes in individual and collective identities. In the new reality marked by lack of clear imponderabilia, sociological knowledge is an important complement, but also an alternative to technical knowledge, which does not solve the most important problems facing humanity.
Sociological reflection makes it possible to better tame new forms of risk, to control risks that, although some were recognized in the past, are returning in a contemporary, hitherto unknown guise. Greater awareness of risks can create tensions in the non-material sphere of life.
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