Book Review: Jodelet, D., Vala, J., & Drozda-Senkowska, E. (2020). Societies Under Threat. A Pluri-disciplinary Approach. Springer.

Authors

  • Pierre Fagnoni UE GRePS, University Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, France
  • Stéphéline Ginguené UE GRePS, University Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, France
  • Pauline Mercier UE GRePS, University Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, France

Keywords:

threat, social psychology, risk, social representation

Abstract

Jodelet, Vala and Drozda-Senkowska report a collective work, as a scientific manifesto, on an emerging paradigm: threats. This book is made of three parts: the redefinition of the concept, its social construction and strategies to face threats. In the first chapter, the definition highlights differences between threat and risk. Thus, the threat would be inevitable, uncertain and unpredictable, with the capacity to transcend humanity. The recent multiplication of threats marks the relevance of the work carried out regarding to current societal issues. The second chapter deals with the construction of threats. This construction might be inherent in a scientific conceptualisation of a particular threat, social perception of that threat, but also its embodiment in social groups. Finally, the third chapter focuses on social and political reception of the threat, and various strategies established to respond to these issues. In dealing with the concept of threat, this book proposes to lay the emphasis on the fertile place occupied by human and social sciences, in particular social psychology through the approach of social representations.

Author Biographies

  • Pierre Fagnoni, UE GRePS, University Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, France

    PIERRE FAGNONI is a PhD (Fellow) under the international co-direction of Nikos Kalampalikis (University Lyon 2, GRePS, France) and Adrian Bangerter (University of Neuchâtel) working on historical and cultural approaches to conspiracy dynamics, in particularly the return in force of the “Flat Earth” theory. E-mail: pierre.fagnoni@univ-lyon2.fr

  • Stéphéline Ginguené, UE GRePS, University Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, France

    STÉPHÉLINE GINGUENÉ is a PhD (Fellow) under the direction of Nikos Kalampalikis (University Lyon 2, GRePS, France) working on social representations of “returnees” from Jihad, in particularly from otherness to pathologization, as dehumanized threat. E-mail: stepheline.ginguene@univ-lyon2.fr

  • Pauline Mercier, UE GRePS, University Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, France

    PAULINE MERCIER is a PhD (Fellow) under the international co-direction of Nikos Kalampalikis (University Lyon 2, GRePS, France) and Brady Wagoner (Aalborg University, Denmark) working on cultural social psychology, in particular F.C. Bartlett's contributions, extensions and applications. E-mail: pauline.mercier@univ-lyon2.fr

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Published

2021-06-22