Risk Epistemologies and Aesthetic Reflexivity of a Disaster-Affected Community: Findings from Vietnam
1133120 SRO0010.1177/13607804221133120Sociological Research OnlineNguyen-Trung research-article2022 Article Risk Epistemologies and Aesthetic Reflexivity of a Disaster-Affected Community: Findings from Vietnam Sociological Research Online 1–15 © The Author(s) 2022 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions https://doi.org/10.1177/13607804221133120 DOI: 10.1177/13607804221133120 journals.sagepub.com/home/sro Kien Nguyen-Trung Monash University, Australia Abstract Scholars and policymakers often use their expert knowledge to define the risk that laypeople face Nonetheless, they have frequently overlooked how laypeople describe and explain the risks they face on a daily basis Moreover, an emphasis on individualisation and reflexivity in Western societies has led to little understanding of how a non-Western community constructs its shared risk culture and how this culture associates aesthetic reflexivity and risk epistemologies The purpose of this research is to fill these gaps by exploring how Vietnamese farmers reflexively define risk in their everyday lives, which in turn informs their risk-taking attitude and action Drawing on a case study of disaster-prone farmers in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta, this research reveals a distinct set of farmers’ risk epistemologies through a process of hermeneutic reflexivity situated in their risk culture and a shared identity They not view risk as wholly negative but rather as an opportunity to attain the aim of surviving and profiting They see cultivating a risky crop as a collective action of risking their lives, sharing with their community both the challenges and the opportunities that risk might offer My article makes a case for sociological research into non-Western civilizations, where late modernity and reflexivity might not be accompanied by individualisation but rather with collectivism and tradition Keywords aesthetic reflexivity, disaster, farmers, laypeople, risk epistemologies, risk perception, Vietnam Introduction Beck (1992) contends that Western civilizations have evolved into a risk society as a result of increasing technical failures (e.g the Chernobyl accident) He asserts that the first modernity has given way to a late modernity in which societies must contend with Corresponding author: Kien Nguyen-Trung, BehaviourWorks Australia, Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University, Menzies Building, 20 Chancellors Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia Email: Kien.nguyen@monash.edu 13 Nguyen-Trung hand, this finding shows that Vietnamese farmers’ reflexive capacity is comparable to that of farmers living in Chernobyl-affected areas (Wynne, 1992) On the other hand, it implies the significance of traditions and culture in constructing Vietnamese farmers’ biographies and risk dispositions This paper argues that sociological research on nonWestern civilizations should take into account the context-sensitive forms of reflexivity and risk epistemologies, which might not have been previously articulated in the West In sum, I have examined and presented various themes in Vietnamese farmers’ risk knowledge in this research Farmers conceptualised risk in four interrelated ways First, farmers defined risk in terms of their livelihood as rice growers Rice farming is a core value ingrained in their risk culture, which shapes how farmers define and recognise risks Second, farmers viewed risk as an inability to cope with the unpredictability of climatic change and environmental threats as well as the strength of divine force Thus, some farmers accepted risk as something created by God or were at the mercy of other supernatural forces Third, risk is a blend of positive and negative aspects, as well as reward and punishment Farmers usually emphasised the opportunities presented by risk rather than the challenges they would encounter Fourth, farmers defined risk as a collective action of putting their lives at risk They exhibited a risk-taking mentality, believing that it was an integral part of being a rice farmer Farmers portrayed themselves in this decision-making process as a communal identity rather than as a single individual identity since they could share both the benefits and the consequences of taking risks together Acknowledgements The author wants to thank his wife and two daughters for their love, support, and understanding Heartfelt thanks to Associate Professor Helen Forbes-Mewett and Professor Dharmalingam Arunachalam (Monash University) for their tremendous support Funding The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/ or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Monash Postgraduate Publication Award (2021) The author would like to thank Monash University for funding this research ORCID iD Kien Nguyen-Trung https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1782-7405 References Adkins L (2003) Reflexivity: Freedom or habit of gender? 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Social Theories of Risk and Uncertainty: An Introduction Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, pp 18–51 Author biography Kien Nguyen-Trung is a research fellow at BehaviourWorks Australia, Monash Sustainable Development Institute He is a member of The Qualitative Report’s editorial board and the founder of the Vietnamese Social Research Methodology His current work aims at facilitating sustainable behaviour and social change in climate change adaptation and disaster risk management His recent publications focus on the social construction of disaster vulnerability, the role of social capital in disaster recovery, and the organised irresponsibility and environmental movement in regional Australia Date submitted April 2021 Date accepted 16 September 2022 ... Research Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, pp 443–466 Tulloch J and Lupton D (2003) Risk and Everyday Life Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Walby K and Doyle A (2009) ‘Their risks are my risks’: On shared risk epistemologies, ... Nguyen-Trung 15 Lash S (1994b) Reflexivity and its doubles: Structure, aesthetics, community In: Beck U, Giddens A and Lash S (eds) Reflexive Modernization: Politics, Tradition and Aesthetics in the Modern... Case Study Research: Design and Methods Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Zinn JO (2008) Risk society and reflexive modernization In: Zinn JO (ed.) Social Theories of Risk and Uncertainty: An Introduction