IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v40y2008i6p1312-1330.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Constructing Responsibilities for Risk: Negotiating Citizen — State Relationships

Author

Listed:
  • Karen Bickerstaff

    (Department of Geography, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, England)

  • Peter Simmons

    (Centre for Environmental Risk, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, England)

  • Nick Pidgeon

    (School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, Wales)

Abstract

The paper examines the ways in which citizens negotiate responsibility in relation to various environmental and technological risks. It focuses on the role of agency and the way that this figures in constructions of relations of responsibility between individuals and institutions. A central argument is that, across the different issue contexts, patterns of perceived agency are crucial to understanding the apparent contradiction in citizens' attributions of role-responsibilities for the management of risk. The empirical basis of the paper is a series of twelve reconvened focus groups conducted at locations around England, giving a total of twenty-four meetings, in which citizens discussed six different areas of technological risk: genetically modified (GM) crops, genetic testing, mobile-phone handsets; mobile-phone masts; radioactive waste; and climate change. The authors highlight the problem of citizen ambivalence towards responsibility, tracing it to perceived tensions affecting both citizen and state performances of responsibility, and conclude by discussing the implications for policy and by outlining an agenda for further research.

Suggested Citation

  • Karen Bickerstaff & Peter Simmons & Nick Pidgeon, 2008. "Constructing Responsibilities for Risk: Negotiating Citizen — State Relationships," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 40(6), pages 1312-1330, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:40:y:2008:i:6:p:1312-1330
    DOI: 10.1068/a39150
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a39150
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a39150?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rachel Slocum, 2004. "Consumer Citizens and the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(5), pages 763-782, May.
    2. Sheila Jasanoff, 2004. "Science and citizenship: a new synergy," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 31(2), pages 90-94, April.
    3. Judith Petts, 2005. "Health, Responsibility, and Choice: Contrasting Negotiations of Air Pollution and Immunisation Information," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(5), pages 791-804, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mah, Daphne Ngar-yin & van der Vleuten, Johannes Marinus & Hills, Peter & Tao, Julia, 2012. "Consumer perceptions of smart grid development: Results of a Hong Kong survey and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 204-216.
    2. Peng Cheng & Jiuchang Wei & Yue Ge, 2017. "Who should be blamed? The attribution of responsibility for a city smog event in China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 85(2), pages 669-689, January.
    3. Evensen, Darrick & Demski, Christina & Becker, Sarah & Pidgeon, Nick, 2018. "The relationship between justice and acceptance of energy transition costs in the UK," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 451-459.
    4. Dickinson, Janet E. & Robbins, Derek & Lumsdon, Les, 2010. "Holiday travel discourses and climate change," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 482-489.
    5. Hares, Andrew & Dickinson, Janet & Wilkes, Keith, 2010. "Climate change and the air travel decisions of UK tourists," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 466-473.
    6. Sarah Becker & Paul Sparks, 2018. "Talking about Climate Change Mitigation: People’s Views on Different Levels of Action," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-18, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kirsty L. Blackstock & Elizabeth A. Kirk & Alison D. Reeves, 2005. "Sociology, Science and Sustainability: Developing Relationships in Scotland," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 10(2), pages 125-140, July.
    2. Diana Reckien & Johannes Flacke & Marta Olazabal & Oliver Heidrich, 2015. "The Influence of Drivers and Barriers on Urban Adaptation and Mitigation Plans—An Empirical Analysis of European Cities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(8), pages 1-21, August.
    3. Victor Pelaez, 2005. "Science And Governance In The National Systems Of Innovation Approach," Working Papers 0010, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Department of Economics.
    4. Mark Whitehead, 2013. "Neoliberal Urban Environmentalism and the Adaptive City: Towards a Critical Urban Theory and Climate Change," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(7), pages 1348-1367, May.
    5. Klerkx, Laurens & Nettle, Ruth, 2013. "Achievements and challenges of innovation co-production support initiatives in the Australian and Dutch dairy sectors: A comparative study," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 74-89.
    6. Ahmad Samim Pouya & Özge Can Niyaz, 2022. "Modeling Turkish Households’ Climate Change-Related Behaviors: Theory of Planned Behavior Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-17, September.
    7. Behnam Taebi, 2017. "Bridging the Gap between Social Acceptance and Ethical Acceptability," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(10), pages 1817-1827, October.
    8. Aldred, Rachel & Tepe, Daniela, 2011. "Framing scrappage in Germany and the UK: from climate discourse to recession talk?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 1563-1569.
    9. Bożena Ryszawska & Magdalena Rozwadowska & Roksana Ulatowska & Marcin Pierzchała & Piotr Szymański, 2021. "The Power of Co-Creation in the Energy Transition—DART Model in Citizen Energy Communities Projects," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-29, August.
    10. Emma Norman & Gemma Dunn & Karen Bakker & Diana Allen & Rafael Cavalcanti de Albuquerque, 2013. "Water Security Assessment: Integrating Governance and Freshwater Indicators," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 27(2), pages 535-551, January.
    11. Clemens Blümel, 2018. "Translational research in the science policy debate: a comparative analysis of documents," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 45(1), pages 24-35.
    12. Jill Johnston & Jacqueline MacDonald Gibson, 2015. "Indoor Air Contamination from Hazardous Waste Sites: Improving the Evidence Base for Decision-Making," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-18, November.
    13. O'Doherty, Kieran C. & Hawkins, Alice K. & Burgess, Michael M., 2012. "Involving citizens in the ethics of biobank research: Informing institutional policy through structured public deliberation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(9), pages 1604-1611.
    14. Josée Johnston & Michelle Szabo, 2011. "Reflexivity and the Whole Foods Market consumer: the lived experience of shopping for change," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 28(3), pages 303-319, September.
    15. Harriet Bulkeley & Nicky Gregson, 2009. "Crossing the Threshold: Municipal Waste Policy and Household Waste Generation," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(4), pages 929-945, April.
    16. Julie Cupples & Victoria Guyatt & Jamie Pearce, 2007. "“Put on a Jacket, You Wuss†: Cultural Identities, Home Heating, and Air Pollution in Christchurch, New Zealand," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(12), pages 2883-2898, December.
    17. Steven Yearley, 2006. "Bridging the Science – Policy Divide in Urban Air-Quality Management: Evaluating Ways to Make Models More Robust through Public Engagement," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 24(5), pages 701-714, October.
    18. Donya Rahmani, 2019. "Designing a robust and dynamic network for the emergency blood supply chain with the risk of disruptions," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 283(1), pages 613-641, December.
    19. James, Victoria K., 2010. "A socio-cultural approach to exploring consumer boycott intelligence: A commentary essay," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 363-365, April.
    20. Georgina Endfield & Carol Morris, 2012. "Cultural spaces of climate," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 1-4, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:40:y:2008:i:6:p:1312-1330. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.