SPECIAL ISSUE
Peter Itzen & Simone Müller (Eds.):
Risk as an Analytical Category: Selected Studies in the Social History of the Twentieth Century
Risks, their construction and mitigation are characteristic for the twentieth century. Enhanced science and technology carried with them not only new opportunities and possibilities, but also created new risks. The contributions of this HSR Special Issue demonstrate that a history of risk can contribute substantially to our understanding of modern societies in general and to a social history of the twentieth century specifically. Risks, risk perceptions and attempts to mitigate them or their effects, are influential in many social fields during the twentieth century. These range from the reaction to social injustice and attempts to avert the threat of poverty, to the debate on health hazards like HIV or the search for solutions to environmental threats.
The articles show that a history of risk can deepen our understanding of these various fields of historical research. Sometimes they may even challenge established readings and make clear that our conventional historical chronologies may be flawed, for instance because they ignore important societal developments that a history of risk can illuminate. Everyday risks often have a much more intense effect on individual lives than do great political debates. How a society reads these risks and how it reacts to them is therefore a legitimate and highly important research topic in its own right. Research on risks sheds light on the different processes of learning and adaption that led to the establishment of new risk regimes and helps us understand why and to which degree societies were resilient against the challenge of risks and under which circumstances an adaption seemed necessary.
Abstracts of all contributions are available on our website <http:://www.gesis.org/hsr/>. For orders, please contact <hsr-order@gesis.org>.
CONTENTS
SPECIAL ISSUE – Risk & Social History
Peter Itzen & Simone M. Müller Risk as a Category of Analysis for a Social History of the Twentieth Century: An Introduction. Pages 7–29; DOI: 10.12759/hsr.41.2016.1.7-29
Arwen P. Mohun Constructing the History of Risk. Foundations, Tools, and Reasons Why. Pages 30–47; DOI: 10.12759/hsr.41.2016.1.30-47
Stefan Kaufmann & Ricky Wichum Risk and Security: Diagnosis of the Present in the Context of (Post-)Modern Insecurities. Pages 48–69; DOI: 10.12759/hsr.41.2016.1.48-69
Malte Thießen Risk as a Resource: On the Interplay between Risks, Vaccinations and Welfare States in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Germany. Pages 70–90; DOI: 10.12759/hsr.41.2016.1.70-90
Jörg Arnold “The Death of Sympathy.” Coal Mining, Workplace Hazards, and the Politics of Risk in Britain, ca. 1970–1990. Pages 91–110; DOI: 10.12759/hsr.41.2016.1.91-110
Sebastian Haus Risky Sex – Risky Language. HIV/AIDS and the West German Gay Scene in the 1980s. Pages 111–134; DOI: 10.12759/hsr.41.2016.1.111-134
Kai Nowak Teaching Self-Control. Road Safety and Traffic Education in Postwar Germany. Pages 135–153; DOI: 10.12759/hsr.41.2016.1.135-153
Peter Itzen Who is Responsible in Winter? Traffic Accidents, the Fight against Hazardous Weather and the Role of Law in a History of Risks. Pages 154–175; DOI: 10.12759/hsr.41.2016.1.154-175
Meike Haunschild Freedom versus Security. Debates on Social Risks in Western Germany in the 1950s. Pages 176–200; DOI: 10.12759/hsr.41.2016.1.176-200
Sarah Haßdenteufel Covering Social Risks. Poverty Debate and Anti-Poverty Policy in France in the 1980s. Pages 201–222; DOI: 10.12759/hsr.41.2016.1.201-222
Felix Krämer Hazards of Being a Male Breadwinner: Deadbeat Dads in the United States of the 1980s. Pages 223–239; DOI: 10.12759/hsr.41.2016.1.223-239
Nicolai Hannig The Checkered Rise of Resilience. Anticipating Risks of Nature in Switzerland and Germany since 1800. Pages 240–262; DOI: 10.12759/hsr.41.2016.1.240-262
Simone M. Müller “Cut Holes and Sink ‘em”: Chemical Weapons Disposal and Cold War History as a History of Risk. Pages 263–284; DOI: 10.12759/hsr.41.2016.1.263-284
MIXED ISSUE
Shiping Tang Eurasia Advantage, not Genetic Diversity: Against Ashraf and Galor’s “Genetic Diversity” Hypothesis. Pages 287–327; DOI: 10.12759/hsr.41.2016.1.287-327
Inge Marszolek & Yvonne Robel The Communicative Construction of Collectivities: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Media History. Pages 328–357; DOI: 10.12759/hsr.41.2016.1.328-357