A commentary on decision-making and organisational legitimacy in the Risk Society

Benn, S; Brown, P; North-Samardzic, A

A commentary on decision-making and organisational legitimacy in the Risk Society

Benn, S

Brown, P North-Samardzic, A

Permalink

Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal of Environmental Management, 2009, 90 (4), pp. 1655 - 1662
Issue Date:: 2009-04-01

Open Access

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Open Access

This item is open access.

Adobe PDF

Download full textAdobe PDF (114.03 kB)

View on publisher's site

View statistics

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Benn, S https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5282-2255	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Brown, P	en_US
dc.contributor.author	North-Samardzic, A	en_US
dc.date.available	2008-05-24	en_US
dc.date.issued	2009-04-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of Environmental Management, 2009, 90 (4), pp. 1655 - 1662	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0301-4797	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/8545
dc.description.abstract	Key concepts of Risk Society as elaborated by Ulrich Beck and others (Beck, U., 1992 (trans. Mark Ritter). The Risk Society. Sage Publications, London. Beck, U., 1995, Ecological Politics in the Age of Risk. Polity Press, Cambridge. Beck, U., 1999, World Risk Society. Polity Press, Cambridge. Giddens, A., 1994, Beyond Left and Right. Polity Press, Oxford. Beck, U., Giddens, A. and Lash, S., 1994, Reflexive Modernisation: Politics, Tradition and Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order. Stanford University Press, Stanford. Beck, U., Bonss, W. and Lau, C., 2003, Theory, Culture & Society 2003, Sage, London, 20(2), pp. 1-33.) are illuminated though a case study of managed environmental risk, namely the hexachlorobenzene (HCB) controversy at Botany, a southeast suburb of Sydney. We observe the way multiple stakeholder decision-making plays out a number of Risk Society themes, including the emergence of 'unbounded risk' and of highly 'individualised' and 'reflexive' risk communities. Across several decades, the events of the HCB story support Risk Society predictions of legitimacy problems faced by corporations as they harness technoscientific support for innovation in their products and industrial processes without due recognition of social and environmental risk. Tensions involving identity, trust and access to expert knowledge advance our understanding of democratic 'sub-political' decision-making and ways of distributing environmental risk. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of Environmental Management	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.jenvman.2008.05.021	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Environmental Sciences	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Humans	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Hexachlorobenzene	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Industrial Waste	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Risk	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Decision Making	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Conservation of Natural Resources	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Hazardous Waste	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Waste Management	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Politics	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Expert Testimony	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Public Policy	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Ethics, Business	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Australia	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Community Participation	en_US
dc.title	A commentary on decision-making and organisational legitimacy in the Risk Society	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	4	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	90	en_US
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management	en_US
dc.location.activity	ISI:000264634600013	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	4	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	90	en_US

Abstract:

Key concepts of Risk Society as elaborated by Ulrich Beck and others (Beck, U., 1992 (trans. Mark Ritter). The Risk Society. Sage Publications, London. Beck, U., 1995, Ecological Politics in the Age of Risk. Polity Press, Cambridge. Beck, U., 1999, World Risk Society. Polity Press, Cambridge. Giddens, A., 1994, Beyond Left and Right. Polity Press, Oxford. Beck, U., Giddens, A. and Lash, S., 1994, Reflexive Modernisation: Politics, Tradition and Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order. Stanford University Press, Stanford. Beck, U., Bonss, W. and Lau, C., 2003, Theory, Culture & Society 2003, Sage, London, 20(2), pp. 1-33.) are illuminated though a case study of managed environmental risk, namely the hexachlorobenzene (HCB) controversy at Botany, a southeast suburb of Sydney. We observe the way multiple stakeholder decision-making plays out a number of Risk Society themes, including the emergence of 'unbounded risk' and of highly 'individualised' and 'reflexive' risk communities. Across several decades, the events of the HCB story support Risk Society predictions of legitimacy problems faced by corporations as they harness technoscientific support for innovation in their products and industrial processes without due recognition of social and environmental risk. Tensions involving identity, trust and access to expert knowledge advance our understanding of democratic 'sub-political' decision-making and ways of distributing environmental risk. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/8545