Criss-crossing the disparate realms of healthcare and global finance, war and national security, climate and personal safety, the language and logic of risk have become pervasive in the twenty-first century.

This public conversation invites the panel of speakers to consider the relationship between democratic governance and risk as a form of social and political rationality. Examining attempts to manage risk in the contexts of healthcare, national security, science and technology, finance, and human sustainability, each speaker will ask: What challenges does the 'risk society' present to democratic governance? How might shared risks be truly mitigated, rather than offloaded to those with less structural advantage? And what might a democratic theory of risk management look like?

This was a joint event with the Calleva Centre at Magdalen College.

Panel:

Charles Vincent, Emeritus Fellow of Jesus College & Professor of Psychology, University of Oxford

Greta Krippner, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Michigan

Émile P. Torres, Author & Ph.D. Candidate, Leibniz University Hannover

Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen, Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Copenhagen

Andrew Stirling, Professor of Science and Technology Policy, University of Sussex

Suzanne Schneider (Moderator), Visiting Fellow, Magdalen College & Deputy Director, Brooklyn Institute for Social Research