That risk communication ranks high on the policymaking agenda is beyond discussion today. The field is a point of intersection of social communication, practical management and policy making. It covers such diverse activities as to inform and educate the public about risk, and risk management in order to influence attitudes and behaviour, to act in situations of emergency or crises, to aid in decision-making and to assist in conflict resolution. Communication has grown into a major concern in current risk governance based on network co-ordinated management of public affairs conducted by authorities and companies and is recognized as a key component in the government of risk. This is especially salient in policy fields relating to environmental planning and resource management, urban planning, chemical and food regulation, or infrastructure planning, development and maintenance. This book explores risk communication research with a focus on new theoretical perspectives, research findings, and applied goals. It reflects on a broad range of innovative theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches and empirical areas. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Risk Research.
Table of Contents:
1. New perspectives on risk communication: uncertainty in a complex society Asa Boholm
2. Risk communication: world creation through collective learning under complex contingent conditions Piet Strydom
3. Creating shared realities through communication: exploring the agenda-building role of the media and its sources in the E. coli contamination of a Canadian public drinking water supply S. Michelle Driedger
4. Narratives of risk Gaspar Mairal
5. Resilience at risk: epistemological and social construction barriers to riskcommunication Richard Stoffle and Jessica Minnis
6. Scientised citizens and democratised science. Re-assessing the expert-lay divide Rolf Lidskog
7. Risk communication, prenatal screening, and prenatal diagnosis: the illusion of informed decision-making Michael Siegrist, Marie-Eve Cousin and Carmen Keller
8. Lead is like mercury: risk comparisons, analogies and mental models Ann Bostrom
9. The public meeting as a theatre of dissent: risk and hazard in land use and environmental planning Asa Boholm
10. What environmental and technological risk communication research and health risk research can learn from each other Ragnar E. Lofstedt and Perri 6
11. Communities of risk research and risk practice: divided by a common language? Tom Horlick-Jones
12. Meaningful communication among experts and affected citizens on risk: challenge or impossibility? Anne Bergmans
13. Risk and safety communication in small enterprises – how to support a lasting change towards work safety priority Christina Stave, Anders Pousette and Marianne Torner
14. Audiovisual risk communication unravelled: effects on gut feelings and cognitive processes Vivianne H.M. Visschers, Ree M. Meertens, Wim F. Passchier and Nanne K. de Vries
15. The illusion of economic objectivity: linking local risks of credibility loss to global risks of climate change Annette Henning
16. Risk management in Swedish forestry – Policy formation and fulfilment of goals Kristina Blennow
17. The text and the tale: differences between scientific reports and scientists’ reportings on the eruption of Mount Chance, Montserrat Jonathan Skinner
18. Governing the sea rescue service in Sweden: communicating in networks Jenny Palm and Eva Tornqvist
19. Wrestling with uncertain risks: EU regulation of GMOs and the uncertainty paradox Marjolein B.A. van Asselt and Ellen Vos
About the Author :
Åsa Boholm is a Professor of social anthropology at the School of Public Administration, University of Gothenburg. Research areas include cultural and organizational dimensions of risk, the communication and management of technological risks in public policy, land use planning, the role of science and technology in public administration and decision making.
