ABSTRACT
Voluntary risk-taking behavior, "edgework," is becoming an increasingly important focus of attention in various disciplines. Understanding adrenaline rush experiences necessarily implies an integrated micro- and macro-level of analysis. More recently, Stephen Lyng's edited book, Edgework (2005), provided the contours for much research to follow. Postmodernist analysis is especially well situated to provide the tools for critical inquiry. In investigating and understanding edgework phenomena, scholars will develop clearer insights on the relation of the human subject to structure in historical conditions. This chapter highlights several emerging and problematic theses in edgework studies: establishing a framework (state space) within which people can situate the minimal determinants for its activity; specifying the nature of boundaries or edges; reconciling paradoxical approaches in the study of risk taking; and specifying useful directions for its continued scholarly investigation. In investigating and understanding edgework phenomena, scholars will develop clearer insights on the relation of the human subject to structure in historical conditions.
