Risk reconsidered: Histories, theories, applications
6–7 June 2023
On 6-7 June, 2023, the Calleva Centre, in collaboration with the Oxford Martin School, convened a two-day workshop and public event that explored why risk has become a key organizing principle for modern social and political life. The workshop brought together twenty-five scholars working in a wide range of scientific and humanistic disciplines, from biophysics and clinical psychiatry to sociology, history, and political theory. Individual sessions considered historical constructions of risk and reason; the ‘actuarial self’ as a form of subjectivity; the evolving nature of risk within healthcare settings; risk management and the workings of democracy; and modes of contending with potentially catastrophic risks like climate change.
The workshop was followed by a public and livestreamed event at the Oxford Martin School, “Risk, Security, and Democracy”, that asked select participants to consider the tensions between the imperatives of risk management and those of democratic governance. Key questions included the role of expertise in risk assessment and mitigation efforts, whether complexity bars public oversight of advanced technologies, and how to understand the individualization of risk with regard to health and financial security.
Risk Reconsidered was organized by Dr Suzanne Schneider of the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, who was a Visiting Fellow at Magdalen College during the 2022–23 academic year.