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Unintended Consequences and Risk(y) Thinking: The Shaping of Consequences and Responsibilities in Relation to Environmental Disasters

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  • Rolf Lidskog

    (Environmental Sociology Section, School of Humanities, Educational and Social Sciences, Örebro University, SE-701 82 Örebro, Sweden)

  • Daniel Sjödin

    (Environmental Sociology Section, School of Humanities, Educational and Social Sciences, Örebro University, SE-701 82 Örebro, Sweden)

Abstract

Unintended consequences have long been central for the social sciences. But, the development of risk analysis and the adoption of risk language have substantial implications for how to understand and evaluate unintended consequences. Claims can now be raised that unintended consequences should have been foreseen and other options chosen. This situation constitutes the starting point for this paper, which develops an understanding of unintended consequences, in particular, in relation to environmental disasters. It draws on Robert Merton’s classic work on unanticipated consequences, but refines and further develops it by fertilizing it with findings from risk sociology and framing theory. A particular case of a human-caused disaster, a severe wildfire, is analyzed to illustrate and expand the understanding of unintended consequences. The empirical material consists of a postal survey to everyone directly affected by the wildfire ( N = 960 individuals). The empirical results of this analysis are then explained and used to improve the understanding of unintended consequences, by showing how the context and framing of the disaster heavily affected the evaluation of its consequences, including unintended ones.

Suggested Citation

  • Rolf Lidskog & Daniel Sjödin, 2018. "Unintended Consequences and Risk(y) Thinking: The Shaping of Consequences and Responsibilities in Relation to Environmental Disasters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-16, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:8:p:2906-:d:164062
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rolf Lidskog & Daniel Sjödin, 2016. "Risk governance through professional expertise. Forestry consultants’ handling of uncertainties after a storm disaster," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(10), pages 1275-1290, November.
    2. Ortwin Renn, 1998. "Three decades of risk research: accomplishments and new challenges," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(1), pages 49-71, January.
    3. Löfmarck, Erik & Uggla, Ylva & Lidskog, Rolf, 2017. "Freedom with what? Interpretations of “responsibility” in Swedish forestry practice," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 34-40.
    4. Hood, Christopher & Rothstein, Henry & Baldwin, Robert, 2004. "The Government of Risk: Understanding Risk Regulation Regimes," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199270019.
    5. Andrew Gouldson & Rolf Lidskog & e Wester-Herber, 2007. "The Battle for Hearts and Minds? Evolutions in Corporate Approaches to Environmental Risk Communication," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 25(1), pages 56-72, February.
    6. Lindahl, Karin Beland & Sténs, Anna & Sandström, Camilla & Johansson, Johanna & Lidskog, Rolf & Ranius, Thomas & Roberge, Jean-Michel, 2017. "The Swedish forestry model: More of everything?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 44-55.
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    1. Rolf Lidskog & Ingemar Elander & Adam Standring, 2020. "COVID-19, the Climate, and Transformative Change: Comparing the Social Anatomies of Crises and Their Regulatory Responses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-21, August.
    2. Ivan Villaverde Canosa & James Ford & Jouni Paavola & Daria Burnasheva, 2024. "Community Risk and Resilience to Wildfires: Rethinking the Complex Human–Climate–Fire Relationship in High-Latitude Regions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-22, January.

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