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We live in an uncertain world, a world full of risk – from economic insecurity to threats associated with climate change and the development of new technologies.
At the University of Reading, Dr Alice Baderin is bringing problems of risk and insecurity to the forefront of thinking about social justice.
Risk is everywhere and is high up on the political agenda, but it raises hard political and ethical problems.
Informed by her research, Alice has designed a third-year undergraduate module called Risk to address these questions. For example, what do we mean when we say,"it’s better to be safe than sorry"? Should we take a precautionary approach to the regulation of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence or gene editing? Should we leave these questions to the experts, or should the general public play a role in decisions about how to regulate risks?
Underlying these questions are issues of justice, fairness and democracy that are core to the discipline of political theory. This module shows students recent developments in the ethics and politics of risk and helps them to think through the implications for how we ought to lead our political lives.
Alice’s students will gain a new perspective on everyday political events, exploring the values that underlie some of the important political choices that face us.
Coming from an applied social research background, Alice’s work in political theory is empirically informed.
By bringing together political theory with evidence from opinion surveys, Alice hopes to generate new perspectives on issues in the field. What better place to start than with the next generation?
Dr Joseph O'Mahoney specialises in international norm dynamics, including norms surrounding war and the proliferation of nuclear weapons, in his research and teaching.
Dr Daphne Halikiopoulou's research looks at the rise of populism and the far-right across Europe. She is on a mission to expose parties who hide their extremism behind a liberal narrative.
