Governance and perceptions of hazardous activities

This book is one of the two publications being the results of an interdisciplinary joint German-French project funded by the Centre interdisciplinaire d’études et de recherches sur l’Allemagne (CIERA) and by the SAGE Laboratory (University of Strasbourg). The aim of the project was to assess how public authorities, tribunals as well as the media and civil society face scientific uncertainty when they have to deal with potential risks and hazardous activities. The study has covered German, French as well as European actors. Two hazardous activities have been selected: pesticides and electromagnetic waves, as both relate to current concerns for which no real scientific consensus seems to exist. Both may cause damages not only to workers but more broadly to consumers and even to every citizen. Both topics, although not entirely new, continue to be of large interest in the public and are often covered by the media. There exist important regulatory frameworks on a European as well as on a German and French national level. Our main point of interest was to work out the connections between these various actors and stakeholders in the issue and to analyze how scientific knowledge merges, is used, misused or ignored by these actors. Thus, French and German jurists, journalists and sociologists - both researchers and practitioners - as well as politicians and NGO activists have been involved in the project, each contributing to a larger understanding of the relevant issues from the point of view of their own professional discipline. The papers were presented during two conferences held in Strasbourg and in Ansbach where the participants had the opportunity to discuss and reflect on their findings.