ABSTRACT
This chapter gives an overview of central approaches in the sociological literature on risk and risk-taking with a focus on how trends and developments here have influenced the thinking in the sociology of youth. This encompasses macro level approaches highlighting social changes and relations between individuals and the state, as well as micro level approaches focusing on meaning-making processes and the specific rationalities that guide subcultures or voluntary risk-takers. More specifically, the chapter engages with the literature on subculture, the ‘risk society’, governmentality and the ‘at-risk’ concept, voluntary risk-taking, and finally the emerging literature on risk-taking and everyday life. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches and how they contribute to our understanding of risk and youth.
