This book is one of the few ambitious works written by young Japanese sociologists of science and technology. Based on modern social theories, with critical reference to American and European sociology of science and technology, it focuses on the problems and hazards caused by the development of science and technology and on the prospects of “subpolitics” that countervail them.
This book consists of an Introduction, Part One (four chapters), and Part Two (six chapters). Part One, “Sociology of Science, Technology, and the Risks,” illustrates how modern social theorists discuss science, technology, and risk. Further, it critically reviews the literature pertaining to sociology of science and technology and the practices in science, technology, and society (STS) movement. In Chapter 1—“A Review in Theories of Risk Society: Individualization and the Limitation of the Systems”—the author tries to synthesize the theories of risk put forth by German sociologists Ulrich Beck and Niklas Luhmann. In addition, relying on Beck and some examples in the Japanese society, the author points out that “subpolitics” are becoming more prominent in risk societies.
