Beck Back in the Nineteenth Century: Towards a Genealogy of Risk Society

Jean-Baptiste Fressoz (1)

1 CAK-CRHST - Centre Alexandre Koyré - Centre de Recherche en Histoire des Sciences et des Techniques

This article aims at historicizing the 'risk society' thesis (Ulrich Beck). I first present an important book by Eugène Huzar, La fin du monde par la science (Paris: Dentu, 1855). The author reflects upon the global catastrophes produced by new technologies and tries to imagine a safer way of governing science and nature. I contextualize this work by providing a series of case studies on various 19th-century technological controversies (ranging from deforestation to vaccination and the chemical industry). I argue that, in every case, what is usually put under the label 'resistance' to progress was in fact crucial for the shaping of safer technologies.

Mots clés: Ulrich Beck; Eugène Huzar; Risk Society; History

Domaines: Histoire

Jean-Baptiste Fressoz. Beck Back in the Nineteenth Century: Towards a Genealogy of Risk Society. History and Technology, 2007, 23 (4), pp.333-350. ⟨10.1080/07341510701527419⟩. ⟨halshs-01049165⟩