On the communicative constitution of risk objects in mediated times

Abstract

This article provides an introduction to, and some motivation for, the themes addressed in the following collection of papers. This special issue was initially conceived as a kind of open-ended dialogue between communication studies and sociology, with the central focus being the conceptualization and practical understanding of the nature of risk communication. In the contemporary world, a technical discourse on risk has, in recent years, assumed the status of a universal basis for governance and administrative practice in both public and private sector spheres. This reframing of pre-existing organizational concerns in terms of risk categories reflects an underlying bureaucratic concern with the formally accountable, controllable and cost-effective management of contingency. During this period, the use of risk communication as a regulatory, policy and operational tool has become increasingly important for institutional attempts to optimize resource allocation, and to inform and influence the behaviour of target audiences. The emergence of this risk management society has occurred during a period of enormous growth in the density and complexity of global media communications, and the saturation of everyday life in an extraordinary diversity of mediated knowledge. Now is the time, we suggest, to re-examine risk communication from the point of view of its reflexive and constitutive dynamics. What are the implications for the nature and characteristics of risk objects and discourses in mediated, twenty-first-century, times? In what ways do the specific properties of risk objects and discourses come to shape the form of communication processes and practices? The following papers attempt to make some progress in responding to these important questions.

From ‘good’ intentions to principled practices and beyond: ethical issues in risk communication

“…It implies the need to understand that risk knowledge is a social construction, arising from individuals' agency, social identities and above all from social relationsincluding of course power relationsin which all of the communication players are involved. That is to say that geoscientists involved in risk communication should reflexively consider the different yet legitimate forms of knowledge which inform risk management and might seek to incorporate practical reasoning and sensibilities of target audiences, in a relentless and comprehensive rethinking of risk governance models (Horlick-Jones and Sime 2004;Irwin 2008;Horlick-Jones and Prades 2009;Miller et al 2009;Horlick-Jones and Farr 2010;Engdahl and Lidskog 2014).…”

The Interactional Accomplishment of Value: A Study of Auctioneering Practice

“…In addressing these problems of facilitating interaction between individuals who are remotely located, the book contributes to a literature on the shifting nature of interaction in mediated spaces (cf. Knorr‐Cetina ; Horlick‐Jones and Farré ; Pinch ). In the last chapter, Heath relates his findings on the contemporary world of auctioneering and the market in art and antiques to the wider significance of changes in communication technologies for the operation of financial markets (cf.…”