ABSTRACT
We take the discussion of the desire for certainty, health and ‘goodness’ further in this chapter, drawing on Ulrich Beck’s (1992, 1998, 2006a, 2006b, 2008) concept of risk society. We start with a discussion of scientific empiricism1 and social constructionism2 as alternative ways of constituting learning in the social sciences, including that of spatial planning. We then discuss and critique Beck’s concept of risk. The subsequent section then expands the constructionist position into a discussion on representation and non-representation, which draws on the Lacanian Real, which we will discuss in some detail in relationship to Henri Lefebvre’s (1993, 1991, 2003) concept of urban space. Derrida’s concept of hauntology is in turn briefly engaged with, to further argue spatial planning’s very ontological being as the papering over of the fear of risk, uncertainty and perhaps, ultimately, of our very death, in the unknown future. We contend that risk is a fear of the undecidable and unknown, which inherently haunts society as a spectre seeking exorcism.
