GENERAL
| SCHOOL | School of Economics and Political Science |
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| DEPARTMENT | Sociology |
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| Level of Study | Undergraduate |
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| COURSE CODE | 431034 |
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| COURSE TITLE | Society of Risk (HS) |
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| Independent Teaching Activities |
Weekly Teaching Hours |
CREDIT UNITS |
| Lectures |
3 |
8 |
| TOTAL |
3 |
8 |
| Course Type | Special Background |
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| Prerequisite Courses | No |
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| Teaching and Examination Language | Greek with teaching proficiency in English |
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| THE COURSE IS OFFERED TO ERASMUS STUDENTS | Yes |
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| Course Webpage (URL) | https://eclass.uoa.gr/courses/SOC215/ |
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(2) LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to:
- Use the conceptual framework of the Sociology of Risk to understand the social dynamics of late modernity.
- Use the methodological tools of Sociology to formulate evidence-based predictions for upcoming developments in various critical techno-scientific fields.
- To criticize commonplace and linear perceptions of historical time and to highlight the polysemy and potentiality of the future.
- Highlight the importance of precariousness and uncertainty in the management of social issues.
- They provide scientifically substantiated advice to decision-making bodies.
- Support community-level actions aimed at recognizing and addressing precarity.
• Supervise the design and implementation of projects aimed at developing adaptive resilience.
General Capabilities
- Search, analysis and synthesis of data and information
- Decision making
- Adaptation to new situations
- Teamwork
- Working in an international environment
- Working in an interdisciplinary environment
- Generation of new research ideas
- Demonstration of social and epistemological sensitivity to issues concerning precarity and uncertainty
- Demonstration of social and professional responsibility in issues of cultural diversity
(3) COURSE CONTENT
In 1986, the German sociologist Ulrich Beck published the landmark book Risk Society. The core idea around which Beck's thought develops was that, unlike modern societies, which were oriented toward the production of wealth, late-capitalist societies are oriented toward the production of risks. Risks represent dangers that exceed the personal or local scale and threaten entire systems or society as a whole: environmental threats, dangers from the use of nuclear power, epidemics, as well as the erosion of the social institutions of modernity due to extreme individualization.
Beck's study relies heavily on highlighting two paradoxes. The first of these concerns the fact that the emergence of risks is not the result of the failure of modernity's techno-scientific programs, but of their success. Pollution and the sixth mass extinction of species are not the result of science's inability to prevent the impending catastrophe, but of the ability of science and technology to implement programs that exceed the limits of the environment in which humanity had developed until then, and of the capitalist system to legitimize the consequences of these programs as the unavoidable «price of development.».
Naturally, these problems need to be addressed. Who is better suited to undertake this task, if not science itself? And this is the second paradox: The problems created by science and technology transcend them in the sense that they concern society as a whole. Nevertheless, the experts try to convince us that the only ones who can manage them are themselves. The other stakeholders have no right to express an opinion (except perhaps for some limited advisory interventions), because they lack the required ’training.« And this despite the fact that the distinctive feature of late capitalism's risks lies precisely in the emergence of dynamics that equally threaten the functioning of human communities, natural systems, and social institutions. The experts try to keep the management of problems that transcend technoscience within technoscience.
These paradoxes cease to be paradoxes, however, if we view science as a political institution. That is, if we abandon the naive idea of an objective and impartial science, which is idealistically dedicated to serving the common good, and view it as a field of action where actors benefit from access to knowledge in order to expand and legitimize their social influence. Therefore, if science is to contribute to addressing the risks that surpass it, it must also surpass itself; to revise its commitments to established power systems and find ways to move beyond the positivist stereotypes upon which it grounds its outdated modern operational model.
(4) TEACHING & LEARNING METHODS – EVALUATION
| DELIVERY METHOD | Development of the topics in class and discussion. Lectures by scientists, artists, and practitioners specializing in the specific topics of the course. Simulation of social research scenarios. |
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| Information and Communication Technologies |
- Use of Audiovisual Media in Teaching
- View related movies and streaming from online platforms
- Use of students' mobile phones for on-site research and retrieval of specialized information from the World Wide Web.
- Use of the e-class platform to communicate with students and to post supplementary materials.
|
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| Activity |
Semester Workload |
| Lectures |
24 |
| Social research simulations |
15 |
| Study of Required Reading |
60 |
| Study of supplementary material and preparation of assignments |
40 |
| Preparing for an Evaluation |
30 |
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0 |
| Course Summary |
169 |
Student Evaluation
| Process Description Evaluation | Student assessment is conducted in two alternative ways.
Students who have actively participated in the course throughout the semester are encouraged to write an essay on a topic to be agreed upon between the instructor and the student.
For students who did not systematically attend the course, a written examination is proposed according to the following template.
- The examination covers the entire syllabus and is in the form of essay questions.
- During the examination, the use of books and notes is permitted. Collaboration among students is also encouraged for the collective processing of the questions.
- The answer to the questions is considered complete when it is factually accurate, satisfactorily justified, and clearly formulated.
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(5) RECOMMENDED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Suggested Bibliography
- Anthopoulou, Theodosia, and Despina Papadopoulou, eds. Environment and Society: Myths and Reality. Athens: Gutenberg, 2005.
- Velegrakis, Giorgos, Konstantatos, Haris & Hatzimichalis, Kostas (eds.), Political Ecology: Eight Contributions to the Greek Debate, Athens, Nisos, 2017.
- Vlassopoulou, Chloë & Liarakou, Georgia (eds.) Environmental History, Athens, Pedio, 2011.
Beck, Ulrich, Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity, Athens, Pedio, 2015.
- Bonneuil, Christophe & Fressoz, Jean-Baptiste, The Shock of the Anthropocene, London, Verso, 2017.
- Buscher Bram & Fletcher Robert, The Conservation Revolution, London, Verso, 2020.
- Dousi Emmanouela, Environmental Governance in Crisis, Athens, Papazisis, 2014.
- Eder, Klaus, The Social Construction of Nature, London, Sage, 1996.
- Franklin, Adrian, Nature and Social Theory, London, Sage, 2002.
- Giddens, Anthony, The Politics of Climate Change, Athens, Metaixmio, 2009.
- Giddens, Anthony, The Consequences of Modernity, Athens, Metaichmio, 2014.
- Gould, Kenneth A., and Tammy L. Lewis (eds.), Twenty Lessons in Environmental Sociology, New York, Oxford University Press, 2009.
- Klinenberg, Eric (ed.), «Climate Change and the Future of Cities: Mitigation, Adaptation and Social Change on an Urban Planet,» Public Culture, Vol. 28, No. 2 (79), May 2016.
- Latouche, Serge, The Bet on Degrowth, Thessaloniki, Vanias, 2008.
- Latour, Bruno, Down to Earth: Politics in the New Climatic Regime, Athens, Polis, 2019.
- Manolas, Evangelos (ed.), Environmental Sociology, Athens, Gutenberg, 2017.
- Mpyalias, Georgios, Environmental risks. Entanglement of science, law and politics, Athens, Sakkoulas, 2009.
- Botetzagias, Joseph, and Karamichas, Yannis, Environmental Sociology, Athens, Kritiki, 2008.
- Mitchell, Timothy, Carbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil, London, Verso, 2011.
- Polanyi, Karl, The Great Transformation, Skopelos, Nisides, 2005
- Smpokos, Giorgos, The Invention of Sustainability, Athens, Okto, 2015.
- Urry, John, Climate Change and Society, Cambridge, Polity, 2011.
- Urry, John & Macnaghten, Phil, Contested Natures, London, Sage, 1998.
- Virilio, Paul, The Information Bomb, Skopelos, Nisides, 2000.
- Virilio, Paul, War and Cinema, Athens, Metaichmio, 2003.
- Virilio, Paul, The Original Accident, Skopelos, Nisides, 2005.
- Fitoussi, Jean-Paul & Laurent, Éloi, The New Political Ecology, Athens, Metaichmio, 2011.
- Foster, John Bellamy, Ecology and Capitalism, Athens, Metaixmio, 2005.
