Privatization of Risk Essay Forum

The early 21st century has seen a concerted effort to limit protections and privatize risk, to roll back public provision of public goods, and to restructure public communications on the basis of private property rights rather than any broader conception of communicative rights. These are all pronounced trends in the United States, and also advanced abroad by both the prominence of an “American model” and the direct policy interventions of the US government and some US-based businesses. But they aren’t unique to the United States. Preference for private property over public institutions has become a global policy.

Efforts to replace public institutions with market mechanisms shift the burden of life’s many risks disproportionately to those without substantial private wealth. The loss of life and livelihoods after Hurricane Katrina was increased, thus, by decisions to cut public investment in social services, physical infrastructure, public communications and public administration. As is often the case, the burden fell disproportionately on racial minorities, women, and children.

This issue needs to be in the forefront of public attention, and public understanding needs to be informed by serious, empirically grounded, social science analyses. It is a pressing concern not only with regard to natural disasters and “homeland security” but with regard to pensions and social security, the availability of health insurance and health care, and the stability of financial institutions and markets... (more)

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