International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2017

Risk and dealing with uncertainty in modern times

(Abstract)

Wolfgang bonβ

People have always lived under conditions of uncertainty. But how to deal with uncertainty and how security is produced varies depending on the social formation. This paper deals with the handling of uncertainty in modern societies. Modern societies always try to conceptualise uncertainties as  action-related,  responsible  and calculable/predictable “risks”. This was a quite successful approach for a long time. However, under the conditions of “risk society”, this approach is increasingly difficult to work. In the case of “new risks”, in particular, the attempt to conceptualise any uncertainty as a predictable and cumulatively controllable risk can hardly be realized. That’s why modern societies must ask for and reflect on a “new culture of uncertainty”.