A unique and timely volume in a burgeoning field, it is ideal for policy-makers, researchers and professionals to develop their risk expertise. Gathering together the leading risk scholars across the full range of disciplines and approaches - from social to scientific - it will stand as the definitive volume for years to come.

Adam Burgess is Professor of Risk Research in the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research at the University of Kent. His principal interests are in comparative national and historical perspectives on risk, sociological studies of 'risk behaviours' and anxieties, and the social and political construction of particular risk controversies. He has also been a research fellow on the systemic risk programme at Princeton University and is research associate at the Centre for the Analysis of Risk and Regulation at the London School of Economics. He has published numerous articles and books on risk-related topics, including Cellular Phones, Public Fears and a Culture of Precaution (Cambridge UP 2004). He is chair and vice-chair of the risk and uncertainty streams of the European Sociological Association and International Sociological Association and co-edits the European Journal of Risk Regulation.

Alberto Alemanno is Jean Monnet Professor of Law at HEC Paris and Global Clinical Professor at New York University School of Law. He is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Risk Regulation. Due to his commitment to bridge the gap between academic research and policy action, he regularly provides advice to a variety of NGOs and governments across the world as well as international organizations on various aspects of European Union Law and global risk regulation. Originally from Italy, Alemanno is a graduate of the College of Europe and Harvard Law School. He holds a PhD from Bocconi University. Prior to entering academia fully time, he clerked at the Court of Justice of the European Union and qualified as an attorney at law in New York. His latest books are Nudge and the Law (Hart Publishing, 2015) and Regulating Lifestyle Risks (Cambridge University Press, 2015). Alberto was named 2015 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Jens Zinn is Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of Melbourne. He researched on risk and social change and how institutions and individuals deal with risk and uncertainty in several research centres and networks in Germany (Status Passages and Risks in the Life Course, Bremen, 1995-1999; Reflexive Modernisation, Munich, 1999-2002) and the UK (Social Contexts and Responses to Risk, SCARR, 2003-2008). In 2015 the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation awarded Zinn the prestigious Friedrich-Wilhelm Bessel Award for his academic achievements.

Introduction Part I: Basic Concepts and Development 1. The Experience of ' Risk '. Genealogy and transformations, Claude-Olivier Doron 2. Probability, Ruben van Coile 3. Understanding Uncertainty: Thinking through in relation to high-risk technologies, Kenneth Pettersen 4. Trust and Risk, Patrick Brown 5. The Reconceptualization of Risk, Terje Aven 6. Why Risk is Recursive and What this Entails, Jerry Busby Part II: Social Approaches to Risk 7. Risk and Culture, John Adams 8. Risk and Theory in Germany, Jens O. Zinn and Wolfgang Bonss 9. Governmentality and the Analysis of Risk, Pat O'Malley Part III: Hazard Assessment and Decision Making 10. Assessing and Mitigating Natural Hazards in a Very Uncertain World, Seth Stein 11. Heuristics and Biases in Decision Making About Risk, Andrew Weyman and Julie Barnett Part IV: Risk Management 12. Health and Safety and the Management of Risk, Laurence N. Ball-King and David J. Ball 13. Risk Management: Sociotechnological risks and disasters, Jean-Christophe Le Coze 14. Quantitative Risk Management and its Limits - A UK engineering perspective, Roger Kemp 15. Disaster Risk Management, Kristian Cedervall Lauta and Michael Faure Part V: Regulation and Governance 16. Risk and Regulation, Alberto Alemanno 17. Risk Governance: Concept and application to technological risk, Ortwin Renn 18. The Evolution Of The Regulatory State: From the law and policy of antitrust to the politics of precaution, Giandomenico Majone Part VI: Key Research Dimensions 19. Risk, Medicine and Health, Andy Alaszewski 20. Risk Knowledge(s), Crime and Law, Kelly Hannah-Moffat 21. Risk, Social Policy, Welfare and Social Work, Hazel Kemshall 22. Risk and Media Studies, John Tulloch Part VII: International Aspects 23. Global Risk, Jakob Arnoldi 24. Terrorism, Risk and Insecurity: Debates, challenges and controversies, Gabe Mythen 25. Risk, (In)security, and International Politics, Claudia Aradau Part VIII: Emerging Areas 26. Digital Risk Society, Deborah Lupton 27. Risk and Ignorance, Matthias Gross 28. Imagining Risk - The visual dimension in risk analysis, Hermann Mitterhofer & Silvia Jordan 29. Resilience and Risk Studies, Kristian Krieger 30. Risk Taking, Jens Zinn