ABSTRACT
The concept of risk is now well established as part of the language of social science. It is widely accepted that the experience of everyday life is significantly influenced by the ways in which individuals think and act about and institutions respond to ‘risk’. Encounters with risk are perceived to take place within every aspect of our public and private lives. Indeed, it has become almost a matter of sociological common sense to identify risk as both an organising principle of society and a major coordinate of personal identity. Risk now features as one of the most suggestive terms for evoking the cultural character of our times and for defining the purpose of social research.
