Systemic Risk as a Perspective for Interdisciplinary Risk Research

Abstract

Our lifeworld is replete with systems which are familiar to us, which we (have to) trust, and with connections in and among systems which we often merely have an inkling of, but by no me- ans comprehend. We commonly use a system, an automobile, so that we can transport oursel- ves “individually”. The vast majority of us has only a vague idea how it works. We pursue the superficial information displays and operate the instruments. Then we move simultaneously with many others in the orientation on a system of rules with all sorts of normative expectations. The road users, together with their technical apparatus, the available infrastructure, and the system of rules relate to each other and cons- titute a system of its own: The transportation system, which is permanently expanding, in that elements are added to it, and linkages that are further developed (Urry 2004).