136-418 Risk, Environment and Modernity

Formerly available as 136-418 and 136-066. Students who have completed 136-418 or 136-066 are not eligible to enrol in this subject. This subject may be cancelled unless enrolments reach five.

Usually admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth-year honours, or a postgraduate coursework program.

This subject will critically examine recent sociological approaches to risk in relation to science, technology, the environment, human health and modernity. Sociological approaches to risk will be discussed in relation to case studies in which the assessment and management of risk is central. Case studies will be based on specific environmental disputes, public health issues or new technological developments, and will explore the perception of risk held by different stakeholder groups, the role of scientific and technical expertise in risk assessment and the public understanding of science, technology and risk. Students should complete the subject with a knowledge of current social theories of risk and modernity and the debates these have generated within social theory and science and technology studies.