Sites of Modernity-Places of Risk

“Places of risk” and “sites of modernity” refer not merely to physical locations, but also objects and institutions that stand at the center of contemporary debates on security and risk. These are social and political domains where energy and infrastructure are produced, where domestic security is pursued and maintained, and where citizens encounter the state in its punitive or monitory roles. Taking a wide view of the period from the 1970s to today, this volume brings together innovative, interdisciplinary case studies of sites of modernity that promise to provide security and safety, yet at the same time are deemed responsible for creating new risks. With a particular contemporary interest in the technocratic changes of security and risk control the contributors to Sites of Modernity ― Places of Risk position the 1970s as a turning point in the path from industrial to post-industrial modernity.

Martin H. Geyer has been Professor for Modern History at the Ludwig Maximilians University Munich since 1997.His research interests and publications deal with issues of social policies, political scandals, the history of capitalism and political and social theories in the 1970s and 1980s. His recent publications include Kapitalismus und politische Moral in der Zwischenkreigszeit Oder: Wer war Julius Barmat? (Hamburg 2018); and his is currently working on a research project which is entitled The State of Emergency in the 20th Century: What We Can Learn Today from German History of the Interwar Period.