S13. Rethinking professionalism to manage risk and uncertainty towards sustainable futures

Abstract

The risks stemming from modernization are inherent features of contemporary societies. These risks, anthropogenic in nature, have exerted pressure on social, economic, and political systems, impacting advanced and developing countries in their increasing interdependence. Presently, issues like climate change and international conflicts dominate public discourse. However, disruptive phenomena have emerged in the past decades, from terrorism to pandemics, through economic crises. These globally scaled phenomena have outlined uncertain scenarios associated with a sense of insecurity.

Risk management now operates within the realm of sustainability, typically defined as the capacity to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In this context, professionals play a pivotal role in interpreting, encoding, and regulating processes that expose individuals, organizations, and the environment to potential adverse effects in the future.

This session aims to address the above issues by soliciting theoretical or empirically based contributions on the evolution of professionalism within the framework of risk management oriented towards the development of sustainability models.

Examples encompass strategies and practices deployed to combat the emergence of infectious diseases, to mitigate environmental pollution, to limit the effects of hydrogeological instability, to advance renewable energy systems, or to develop sustainable agri-food systems. Contributions assuming critical theoretical perspectives, such as environmental/ecological social work, which focuses on the symbiotic relationship between individuals and the ecological systems in which they reside, are also welcome.

We warmly encourage contributions reflecting on the formation of necessary skills and competencies to address change, on the emergence of new professions or the evolution of established professions engaged in change processes, on the relationships between agents of change and between them and citizens/users, and on the dynamics of identity formation and the formation/transformation of professional communities such as epistemic communities.

Organizers

Andrea Bellini, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, andrea.bellini@uniroma1.it.

Maria Grazia Galantino, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, mariagrazia.galantino@uniroma1.it.

Giulio Moini, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, giulio.moini@uniroma1.it.

Giuseppe Ricotta, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, giuseppe.ricotta@uniroma1.it

Brief bios

Andrea Bellini is a Senior Lecturer in Economic Sociology at the Department of Social Sciences and Economics (DiSSE), Sapienza University of Rome. His research interests focus on the sociology of professions, industrial relations, and, generally, economic and social regulation issues.

Maria Grazia Galantino is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the Department of Social Sciences and Economics, Sapienza University of Rome. Her research interests cover the sociology of risk applied to different domains (migration, health, internal and international security, etc.), as well as media and public opinion studies. She is the Coordinator of ESA RN22 - Sociology of Risk and Uncertainty.

Giulio Moini is a Professor of Political Sociology at the Department of Social Sciences and Economics, Sapienza University of Rome. He deals with transformations of contemporary public action, especially neoliberalism, new forms of political participation and urban matters.

Giuseppe Ricotta is a Professor of Sociology at the Department of Social Sciences and Economics, Sapienza University of Rome. His main research areas are classical and contemporary sociological theory, modernization, risk and insecurity, postcolonial critique and social exclusion, perceptions of safety in cities, urban security policies, conflict for space and socio-territorial exclusion, inequalities and health promotion in urban areas.