Risk illusion and organized irresponsibility in contemporary finance: rethinking class and risk society

Curran, Dean

doi:10.1080/03085147.2015.1044850

Cited by 28 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…These lacunae in both economic and sociological analyses of contemporary systemic inequalities have recently been addressed by the emerging research paradigm on risk-class (Beck 2013;Curran, 2013;Christophers 2015). Risk-classes may be studied as (emerging) systemic groups that either benefit or suffer disproportionately from contemporary risk processes-especially vis-à-vis the parallel distribution of system goods (the usual focus of class analysis) and the differential responsibility for production of these systemic bads (Curran, 2015).…”

Section: Retheorizing Systematic Inequalities In the Age Of Global Risksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The common tendency to frame the issue of low-carbon innovation as a technical issuea straightforward, neutral technological means of greater carbon-efficiencyis particularly problematic (Tyfield et al, 2015). The generation and reception of products, services or business forms that will experience significant take-up is thoroughly mediated by power/knowledge relations that embody a certain conception of lowcarbon innovation and future society; in the context of a growing consumer society in China (Yu,4 analysis thus identifies systematic differentials in groups' distribution of socially produced risks, the uneven nature of benefits from these risks, and the interaction of these inequalities with existing inequalities such as class, race, and gender (Curran 2015(Curran , 2016(Curran , 2018. This paper pushes this research agenda by investigating how this approach can illuminate the politics of socio-technical system transition (and, thence, vice versa).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Low-Carbon Transition as Vehicle of New Inequalities? Risk-Class, the Chinese Middle-Class and the Moral Economy of Misrecognition

Curran

Tyfield

2019

Theory, Culture & Society

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Low-carbon innovation is usually depicted as an exemplar of pursuit of the common good, in both mainstream policy discussion and the emerging orthodoxy of transition studies. Yet it may emerge as a key means of intensifying inequality. We analyse low-carbon innovation as a social and political process through the prism of differential risk-classes, focusing on the pivotal global case of emergence of the Chinese middle-class in seaboard megacities, especially regarding the profound challenges of urban e-mobility transition. This approach shows emergence of this still-forming sociopolitical grouping as tightly and complementarily coupled with the assembling of innovations that meaningfully tackle global risks, such as climate change, while also intensifying existing inequalities. Misrecognition of the duality of low-carbon innovations as both moral technologies and as relatively expensive consumer products has the potentiality to be a key mechanism of this process, thereby serving to reproduce, constitute and legitimize inequalities in novel and unexpected ways.

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Section: Retheorizing Systematic Inequalities In the Age Of Global Risksmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-Carbon Transition as Vehicle of New Inequalities? Risk-Class, the Chinese Middle-Class and the Moral Economy of Misrecognition

Curran

Tyfield

2019

Theory, Culture & Society

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“…Notably, Dean Curran, a Canadian sociologist, re-reads Ulrich Becks' "Risk Society" in social class terms, coming up with the idea of fi nanciers as constituting a "risk class" (Curran 2015a(Curran , 2015b(Curran , 2016. What is risk class?…”

Section: From Risk Society To a Financial "Risk Class"mentioning

confidence: 99%

Illegal Entrepreneurship, Organized Crime and Social Control

Antonopoulos¹

2016

Studies of Organized Crime

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This series will publish theoretically signifi cant books in two primary areas. One is the political economy of organized crime and criminality whether at the transnational, national, regional, or local levels (focus on fi nancial crime, political corruption, environmental crime, and the expropriation of resources from developing nations). The other is human rights violations, particularly in Third World countries. Manuscripts that cover either historical or contemporary issues of the above, utilizing qualitative methodologies, are equally welcome. In addition, we are particularly interested in publishing the work of sophisticated junior scholars.More information about this series at

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“…As such, it may be concluded that Beck's work on class exhibits limitations that are highly theoretically productive. The three primary research approaches emerging as critiques of Beck's account of class are: the reinvigoration of research into the continuity of class in contemporary society (Scott 2000;Mythen 2004Mythen , 2005aMythen , 2005bAtkinson 2007aAtkinson , 2010, the analysis of how individualization involves the manifestation of novel forms of class inequality (Savage 2000; Skeggs 2004), and the political economy of 'risk-class' (Beck 2013;Curran 2013aCurran , 2013bCurran , 2015Curran , 2016a.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beck’s creative challenge to class analysis: from the rejection of class to the discovery of risk-class

Curran

2017

Journal of Risk Research

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Beck's rejection of the relevance of class in Risk Society has had an immense impact on both the fields of class analysis and the sociology of risk. In outlining a novel theory of the systemic importance of risks as side-effects and in making bold claims about how the production and distribution of risks are undermining class inequalities, Beck posed a highly influential challenge to both risk and class studies. Beck's impact on class analysis however has not been mainly due to widespread acceptance of his original claims about risk and class; rather, it has been research building upon Beck's work so as to critically depart from his conclusions through which Beck has made his contributions to the study of class. In seeking to identify the impact of Beck's work on the study of risk and class, this paper, firstly, outlines Beck's challenge to class analysis. It then proceeds to identify three key areas of research whose development was motivated by their critical engagement with Beck's work: the literature on risk and the continuity of class; the critical theory of the individualization of class inequality; and the political economy of risk-class. This paper then concludes by critically evaluating Beck's more recent, partial acknowledgement of risk inequalities by arguing that there are significant limitations in his account of class, but that his work continues to offer a valuable opportunity to inspire future work on class and inequality.

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Risk illusion and organized irresponsibility in contemporary finance: rethinking class and risk society

Cited by 28 publications

References 33 publications

Low-Carbon Transition as Vehicle of New Inequalities? Risk-Class, the Chinese Middle-Class and the Moral Economy of Misrecognition

Low-Carbon Transition as Vehicle of New Inequalities? Risk-Class, the Chinese Middle-Class and the Moral Economy of Misrecognition

Illegal Entrepreneurship, Organized Crime and Social Control

Beck’s creative challenge to class analysis: from the rejection of class to the discovery of risk-class

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