Lyana Francot and Bald de Vries, Utrecht: No Way Out? Contracting About
Modern Risks
Abstract: This article seeks to illustrate the
relevance of social theory for the study and practice of law. As social theory
reports on changes that influence societal structures, the question for lawyers
is how these changes affect law and what this means for its role and function.
To this end, the article draws on Ulrich BeckÕs theory of the risk society and
reflexive modernization to provide the relevant perspective. This theory
reports upon and explains the so-called side effects of modernization that take
the shape of environmental, industrial and political risks. It is these side
effects that constitute the problem in risk society and dealing with them
demands a reflexive approach towards modernization. The article seeks to
highlight the relevance of this theory for law by placing it in the tradition
of social contacts theory. It does so by reformulating the central problem of
the risk society and by identifying the main social actors who would be party
to a ÒnewÓ social contract. The article then identifies and formulates the
instruments of negotiation, at which point it becomes clear what the role of
law may be. It concludes with a tentative indication of what the main terms of
the social contract could look like.
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