Digital Risk Society

Sociocultural approaches

• Risk has become an increasingly pervasive aspect of everyday life• Risk is a central aspect of concepts of selfhood• Risk is seen as able to be managed by human intervention• Risk is associated with notions of choice, responsibility and blame

The big sociological questions• Why are some phenomena singled out and named as ‘risks’?• How do people learn about these risks?• Who are blamed for creating risks?• What social groups are singled out as ‘risky’?• How do people conceptualise risk?• What practices do they engage in to avoid risk?• Why might they chose to court risk?

Risk society

• Draws from Beck’s and Giddens’ writings on late modernity• Late modernity has generated risks due to post-industrial

development• Late modernity also reflexive: critical of itself• Characterised by individualisation – breaking down of traditional

norms and values• All this leads to the perception that risk is widespread, uncontained

and human-made

Digitising risk• How digital technologies identify and publicise risks:

• Online news sites, social media, apps, image-sharing sites, Wikipedia, blogs, discussion groups• Problem of misinformation, hoaxes and pranks, fake news

Risks of digital technologies• Cybercrime• Hacking• Data breaches and leakages• Cyberbullying• Paedophilia• The dark web• Bugs and viruses• Scams• Dataveillance• The web never forgets• Vigilantism and trolling

Digital social inequalities• Lack of access• Lack of skills• Increasing disadvantage and marginalisation• Exclusion• Algorithmic discrimination