ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the different schools of thought concerning 'risk' and 'modernity'. The theoretical and conceptual approaches to risk outlined here must be viewed in their wider social context. The globalisation of technological risk challenged the new way of thinking that brought to modern risk theory some human, moral and humanistic imperatives. In Risk acceptability according to the Social Sciences, Douglas argues that in pre-modern times, the main perception of risk focused on famine, economic recession, war, crime, nuclear and environmental problems. Socio-cultural factors of risk have had a great impact on social organizations. A detailed analysis of the works of Giddens and Beck shows their uniqueness and how their ideas have generated a total re-thinking of the nature of risk. They emphasize the urgent need for a re-assessment of the impact of modernity on contemporary society. The chapter looks at the risks facing one group in post-communist Russia – youth.