24/04/2019 - Risk, Culture and Uncertainty

WHEN: 24 April 2019, 11:00 a.m.

WHERE: MUP University Centre in Hradec Králové, Štefánikova 566, Room U1

WHO: Dr. Andrea Boscoboinik
(MER – Conseillère aux études, Anthropologie sociale, Département de sciences sociales, Université de Fribourg)

The concept of risk refers to many phenomena and encompasses a multitude of uncertainties. From floods to fires, from obesity to lung cancer, from the threat of terrorist attacks to the outbreak of wars, the risks are displayed at several levels: natural, social, financial, industrial, technological, and chemical, among others. Social anthropologists who have taken an interest in the field of risks usually assume that culture is crucial to risk perception. Moreover, we could say that uncertainty is a fundamental dimension of risk and without uncertainty there is no risk. In this presentation, I would like to discuss the links between the notions of risk, culture and uncertainty, and how they can be theorized from an anthropological perspective. To do so, I will present an analytical perspective on risk as referring to a domain of uncertainty about values and assets.