Risk and danger

a sociological analysis of the United Nations prescriptions to combat Covid-19

Abstract

Risk and danger are notions that are present in several areas of science. In sociology it could not be different. There is in their formulations a wide discussion about these two concepts that have been used to portray the various situations of supposed real or potential threats to individual and collective life. Throughout history there are times when risk and danger gain challenging dimensions for both the Social and Human Sciences and for the Natural Sciences. From 2019 onwards, this becomes evident with the pandemic outbreak of COVID 19. This study has as empirical material the diagnoses and prescriptions exposed in the documents prepared by the United Nations to propose - to governments, States, political leaders and organizations of the civil society - actions, practices and procedures both to protect the most vulnerable, in the pandemic context, and to define measures to combat the social and economic impacts resulting from Sars-Cov-2. It was found that the documents produced within the UN system greatly emphasize, in their prescriptive propositions, the social, economic and political risks arising from the pandemic, that is, the risks go far beyond the danger of contagion, which is already worrying.