DeRisk
From financial crises to climate change and pandemics, over the past several decades societies have increasingly faced large-scale, systemic risks, with these risks becoming central governance issues.
The Systemic Risk and the Transformation of Democracy (DERISK) project addresses the relationship between systemic risk and democracy. Systemic risks are large-scale risks created by the unintentional coordination of millions of individual decisions. DERISK explores how systemic risks are transforming governance in western democratic societies, leading them to increasingly rely upon technocratic governance which precludes democratic participation. Producing an innovative theory of risk democracy in response to these challenges, DERISK aims to provide a framework for democratic institutions to respond to these risks while preserving political equality. As an interdisciplinary research project, it seeks to offer insights to professionals in political philosophy, risk studies, sociology, political economy and other related fields.
The DERISK project is organised around four work packages, covering the following topics:
Democracy and Systemic Risk
This package will provide the theoretical backbone of the project, exploring normative theories of systemic risks and producing a new conceptualisation of risk democracy and risk citizenship. It will explore the citizen-expert divide, technocratic creep in the face of emergency, inequalities within systemic risk governance and possibilities for equitable processes and solutions.
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Finance and Systemic Risk
After two-decades of global financial turbulence and the steady growth of influence for financial institutions, such as central banks, in our governance, the need to examine the relationship between finance, systemic risks and risk governance has become extremely pressing. How do these institutions relate to democratic governance and our commitment to equality?
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Climate Change and Systemic Risk
Any political vision for today has to grapple with the systemic risk brought about by climate change, producing a comprehensive plan of prevention, mitigation, adaption and restoration. The challenge seems so vastly complicated that it might be beyond the scope of democratic governance, requiring science-informed technocracy and authoritarian measures. To maintain a commitment to democracy, we must question how we can govern the systemic risk of climate change and how to do so whilst adhering to democratic principles.
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Pandemics and Systemic Risk
Whilst financial and climate risks have been on the global agenda for the last two decades, the systemic risks wrought by pandemics have only come into focus with the experience of Covid-19. We must examine how pandemics impact democratic governance, how to mediate individual risk and systemic risk and which risk governance measures are legitimate for democratic societies to adopt.
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