Regulating Risk

This book explores the nuanced experience of living in the risk society through the lived experiences of communities who have ‘dangerous’ offenders released into their midst. After locating the issue of risk within post-modern market fundamentalist societies, New Zealand is unpacked as a uniquely valuable jurisdiction to examine the effects of the risk society, given the speed and enthusiasm with which neoliberal political and economic reforms were taken up in this country. Three case studies are used to illustrate community experiences of the release of ‘dangerous’ offenders, after which the findings from these cases will be woven into the existing theoretical framework around risk. A particularly novel contribution of this text is the discussion of the role of colonisation in the way the risk society is understood and experienced, both historically and today. This book provides a useful contribution to the field of risk and add to the respective bodies of empirical research and theory. It will be a valuable text for those teaching on risk and subjects related to the risk society (within criminology, sociology, and law specifically); those exploring the impacts of neoliberalism/market fundamentalism; those looking at the impacts of offender release and post-sentence offender regulation on communities; and those interested in the development of New Zealand as an exemplar of a post-modern market fundamentalist society.