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Risk, Responsibility, and Blame: An Analysis of Vocabularies of Motive in Air-Pollution(ing) Discourses

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  • Karen Bickerstaff

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, England)

  • Gordon Walker

    (Department of Geography, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 2DE, England)

Abstract

In this paper we analyse the reasonings that people deploy in explaining and rationalising their behaviour in relation to the collective environmental and health-risk problem of urban air quality. We draw on an empirical study of public perceptions of air pollution to identify a range of ‘vocabularies of motive’ or discourses that serve to move responsibility to act away from the individual and onto other groups. We consider how far each of these ‘vocabularies' can be interpreted as a mode of blaming, and draw conclusions linking our analysis to wider relational and moral tensions. Our analysis suggests that blame, although conceptually powerful, falters under empirical scrutiny. On this basis we argue for a more sensitive reading of responsibility discourses in academic debate and enquiry. Conclusions and policy implications are developed, linking our interpretation to the (confrontation of) wider relational and moral tensions, which characterise collective-risk situations.

Suggested Citation

  • Karen Bickerstaff & Gordon Walker, 2002. "Risk, Responsibility, and Blame: An Analysis of Vocabularies of Motive in Air-Pollution(ing) Discourses," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 34(12), pages 2175-2192, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:34:y:2002:i:12:p:2175-2192
    DOI: 10.1068/a3521
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. G Myers & P Macnaghten, 1998. "Rhetorics of Environmental Sustainability: Commonplaces and Places," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 30(2), pages 333-353, February.
    2. Karen Bickerstaff & Gordon Walker, 2001. "Participatory Local Governance and Transport Planning," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 33(3), pages 431-451, March.
    3. Ian H. Langford & Stavros Georgiou & Ian J. Bateman & Rosemary J. Day & R. Kerry Turner, 2000. "Public Perceptions of Health Risks from Polluted Coastal Bathing Waters: A Mixed Methodological Analysis Using Cultural Theory," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(5), pages 691-704, October.
    4. Mike Raco & Rob Imrie, 2000. "Governmentality and Rights and Responsibilities in Urban Policy," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 32(12), pages 2187-2204, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Pamela Box & Deanne Bird & Katharine Haynes & David King, 2016. "Shared responsibility and social vulnerability in the 2011 Brisbane flood," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 81(3), pages 1549-1568, April.
    2. Peng Cheng & Jiuchang Wei & Yue Ge, 2017. "Who should be blamed? The attribution of responsibility for a city smog event in China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 85(2), pages 669-689, January.

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