Theorizing Risk and Uncertainty

Risk, uncertainty, and non-knowledge have become central concepts for analysing contemporary societies, yet their theoretical status remains contested. In turbulent times marked by climate change, war, forced migration, AI, disinformation, distrust in science, democratic fragility and deepening inequalities, sociological theories of risk require renewed conceptual work. This session invites contributions that revisit, extend, or challenge existing approaches to risk, uncertainty, non-knowledge, including issues related to ambiguity, vulnerability, resilience, crisis, threat, danger, trust, hope, responsibility, and precaution.

We particularly welcome papers that connect classical and contemporary risk sociology with feminist, decolonial, postcolonial, Global South, post-humanist, affective, practice-theoretical, phenomenological or relational perspectives. Contributions may ask how risk concepts travel across contexts, how uncertainty is distributed unequally, how risk is calculated, imagined, embodied or governed, and how established theories need to be revised in light of systemic, cascading or polycrisis conditions. The session seeks to advance theoretical debate while remaining attentive to empirical realities and global asymmetries in the production of risk knowledge.