Finding a way between nihilism and romanticism: Some reflections on the practice and politics of the sociology of risk

摘要

This editorial argues that aspects of a number of contemporary debates within the sociology of risk, including those concerned with the nature of expert knowledge, the capacity of theory to address practical real-world issues, and the appropriate political stance of the scholar, were pre-figured in helpful and insightful ways in the work of the British medical sociologist Philip M. Strong (1945-1995). The recent publication of a selection of Strong's essays, which had earlier appeared in a disparate range of books and journals, makes a valuable resource available not only to specialist health researchers, but also to the wider risk research community.