Lee Clarke
Acceptable Risk?
Making Decisions in a Toxic Environment
$26.95, £18.95 paperback
9780520076570
Available Now
Organizations and modern technology give us much of what we value, but they have also given us Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Bhopal. The question at the heart of this paradox is "What is acceptable risk?" Based on his examination of the 1981 contamination of an office building in Binghamton, New York, Lee Clarke's compelling study argues that organizational processes are the key to understanding how some risks rather than others are defined as acceptable. He finds a pattern of decision-making based on relationships among organizations rather than the authority of individuals or single agencies.
"A first-rate case study and analysis. . . . Clarke has generated some crucial insights for aiding us in understanding the organizational forces behind the risks we face."—Anthony Ladd, Social Forces
"I hope Clarke's book is widely read by public officials. It is exceptionally well written, judiciously argued and eminently sociological."—Judith Blau, Work and Occupations
"An exemplary sociological analysis of weaknesses in institutional anticipation of safety problems and of bureaucratic response to unanticipated problems."—James F. Short, Jr., Law and Society Review
"This book makes a solid contribution to building a theory of organizational responses to drastic environmental hazards."—Robert E. O'Connor, American Political Science Review
"I hope Clarke's book is widely read by public officials. It is exceptionally well written, judiciously argued and eminently sociological."—Judith Blau, Work and Occupations
"An exemplary sociological analysis of weaknesses in institutional anticipation of safety problems and of bureaucratic response to unanticipated problems."—James F. Short, Jr., Law and Society Review
"This book makes a solid contribution to building a theory of organizational responses to drastic environmental hazards."—Robert E. O'Connor, American Political Science Review
Creating Risks
Organizational Chaos" Beginning Decontamination and Medical Surveillance
Constricting the Field of Organizations
As Excursus on Resolving Organizational Dilemmas: The County Government's Risk
Organizing Medical Surveillance
Organizing Decontamination
The Exposed
Organizing Risk
Appendix A: The Players
Appendix B: A Methodological Accounting
References
List of Interviews
Organizational Chaos" Beginning Decontamination and Medical Surveillance
Constricting the Field of Organizations
As Excursus on Resolving Organizational Dilemmas: The County Government's Risk
Organizing Medical Surveillance
Organizing Decontamination
The Exposed
Organizing Risk
Appendix A: The Players
Appendix B: A Methodological Accounting
References
List of Interviews
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