The sociology of risk (Luhmann) challenges the appropriateness of the description of present-day society as a “risk society” (Beck). Every social system differentiates between risks envisaged by decision-makers and actual future dangers. Risk is envisaged only with respect to the maintenance of a social system. From this standpoint, possible harm to the man in the street may be preferred to a risk that might affect the decision-makers’ own social system.
