Risk, Uncertainty and Rational Action

by Carlo C. Jaeger, Thomas Webler, Eugene A. Rosa

Risk as we now know it is a wholly new phenomenon, the by-product of our ever more complex and powerful technologies. In business, policy making, and in everyday life, it demands a new way of looking at technological and environmental uncertainty.

In this definitive volume, four of the world's leading risk researchers present a fundamental critique of the prevailing approaches to understanding and managing risk - the 'rational actor paradigm'. They show how risk studies must incorporate the competing interests, values, and rationalities of those involved and find a balance of trust and acceptable risk. Their work points to a comprehensive and significant new theory of risk and uncertainty and of the decision making process they require. The implications for social, political, and environmental theory and practice are enormous.

Winner of the 2000-2002 Outstanding Publication Award of the Section on Environment and Technology of the American Sociological Association

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Carlo C. Jaeger is Professor for modelling social systems at Potsdam University in Germany, chair of the research domain "Transdisciplinary Concepts and Methods" (TCM) at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and chair of the European Climate Forum. TCM develops climate impact research guided by stakeholder dialogues and using mathematics as a tool to meet conceptual challenges. He has been professor at the University of Darmstadt in Germany and head of the human ecology department at the Swiss federal institute for environmental science and technology. He is member of the Scientific and Technical Council of IRGC (International Risk Governance Council), and has served on the boards of various scientific organizations. He holds degrees in economics (PhD, Frankfurt University), sociology (diploma, University of Berne), and human ecology (habilitation ETH Zurich) and has worked extensively on interactions between technological progress and environmental problems, in particular the role of information technologies for urban development. He has also considerable research experience in the field of stakeholder dialogues. His current research interest is focused on the role of financial markets in managing climate change and is the coordinator of the EU project Global Systems Dynamics and Policies (www.gsdp.eu).