The role of valuation practices for risk identification

Abstract

This report uses a relational theory of risk within which risk is understood as a relationship between a risk object and an object at risk where the risk object threatens the value embedded in the object at risk. A case study of risk management in railway planning examined through a relational understanding of risk demonstrates how riskwork is conditioned by what is valued, how, and by whom. The report argues that riskwork originates in the versatile valuation practices that take place in organizations. Furthermore, it suggests that bringing such valuation practices under critical scrutiny opens up the possibility for a reflexive approach to risk management. Such a reflexive approach would take into account how risk identification is embedded in a particular organizational order.