Theoretically Sustainable Risks

Abstract

Whether through various risk assessment models, Foucault’s emphasis on governmentality, Ericson’s emphasis on insecurity or Beck’s broader risk society, the concept of risk is frequently drawn upon in criminological theory. But are the techniques and ideologies affiliated with risk and its management sustainable? This paper adds to critical criminological discussions of risk by raising insights from the body of work on environmental sustainability, which interestingly speaks to many of the core features of risk yet with an emphasis on susceptibility, vulnerability and systemic outcomes. Significant emphasis will be placed on the conceptual overlap of institutional management strategies when seen through the respective paradigms of risk and sustainability, offering theoretical implications in light of socio-legal/criminological management practices as well as institutional/procedural reform.