These days, risk is everywhere: Sit too much, and you risk a host of health problems; get up and exercise, and you risk injury. But it’s not just what you do (or don’t do) that is nowadays analyzed in terms of risks. Crime, cars, pollution, terrorism, social media, the environment and the financial system, all are analyzed in terms of the risks they pose. Some risks are very local and specific, while others—like those associated with global warming—may affect the lives of all humans, as well as many other life-forms on earth. And it is not just external things that are analyzed in terms of risk: one’s level of wealth, gender, race, religion, ethnic background—all also subject of risk analysis. There are even studies on the different levels of risks associated with different months of birth.
What does all this have to do with law? Since law these days touches on every aspect of our lives, law is also deeply entangled with risk. Indeed, from a certain perspective, all law is concerned with risk. This may seem rather obvious with respect to relatively new areas of law like environmental law or financial regulation; but it is no less true of “old” common-law areas of law like contract and tort.
All this makes risk a valuable lens through which to think about law. This seminar will not attempt the impossible, which is a survey of all the different ways by which law deals with risk. Instead, we will discuss some general aspects of the relationship between law and risk. This will also be an opportunity for us to look beyond law. Because of the significance of risk, it has attracted the attention of authors from many different disciplines, so in addition to writings by academic lawyers, we will read and discuss works of history, political science, sociology, psychology, economics, and philosophy. However, the seminar is not meant to be a purely “academic” affair. With the aid of newspaper or magazine articles, we will also consider the topic in light of current events.
Method of Evaluation:
Presentation: 20%
Paper: 80% (of which 10% for a paper outline and 70% for the final paper)
The paper should be around 5,000 words for first-year students and 7,000 words for upper-year students.