Interfacing Risk Logic, Riskification, and Risk Governance: Some Research Implications

There is an increasingly widespread scientific recognition that there are systemic risks, for example climate change, which are studied as security issues. This paper addresses possible interfaces between the constructivist approach of riskification and the realistic approach of risk governance, by proposing three analytical categories of the exploration of security topics like climate change: how the two approaches understand 1) risks, 2) actors, and 3) tools and practices. Riskification builds on securitization theory and argues that securitization has not been able to clarify what distinguishes threats from risks. Risk governance combines normative political theories with risk science and promotes a realist perspective on risks. Riskification is supported by a risk logic, which posits that the identification and management of risks can be governed through the purposive guidance of the public towards a particular way of thinking and acting. Bringing together these two perspectives improves the analysis of contemporary risks and threats phenomena, such as climate change or pandemics, in addition to expanding the number of explanations and the understanding. Furthermore, this paper promotes linkages between riskification and risk governance, to increase knowledge on which risks are prioritized and which actor constellations deal with these risks, to develop proper policies and planning.

Keywords: Securitization, Riskification, Risk governance, Risk logic, Climate change, Interfaces.

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