This research line seeks to enrich current STS research on risk by complementing it with the notion of vulnerability. We hope that an agenda in terms of vulnerabilities will allow for a novel and broader understanding of key questions related to risks and benefits of science and technology in modern societies. Broadening the analysis from risk to vulnerability will draw attention to issues of justice, solidarity, and livelihood. It will also help us to include comparative research on societies in the global north and south. Research is often based on empirical case studies. We elaborate concepts that illustrate the ambiguity, context-dependency and constructed character of the vulnerability problem. We also investigate which implications the various analyses of vulnerability may have for addressing issues of politics and governance of risk and vulnerability.
You can find a list of (current and past) projects that fall within this research line below.