Risk assessment and environmental crisis: toward an integration of science and participation

Abstract

This essay examines the dominant technocratic approach to risk assessment in the context of the environmental crisis. Focusing on the concept of acceptable risk, the discussion demonstrates the need for a more comprehensive sociolog ical approach to risk perception and communication. The alternative is seen to depend on the inclusion of a wider range of political interests and social con cerns, those of the public as well as the more immediate stakeholders. Toward this end, the paper sketches the outlines of a participatory methodology for risk assessment and concludes with a brief exploration of the political and institu tional implications of such an approach.