著者

小松 丈晃

出版者

社会・経済システム学会

雑誌

社会・経済システム (ISSN:09135472)

巻号頁・発行日

no.26, pp.119-126, 2005-11-12

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I will analyze in this paper the problem of so-called "Altlasten" in the new federal states (the Land of Saxony, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomeranian, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia)through the concept of risk-transformation, which has been used in the Niklas Luhmann's social system theory. According to Luhmann, various types of "technological-ecological risks" are transformed into the specific political risks by the political system as one of the function systems of modem society. The political system has to assume the "technological-ecological risks" with regard to the results produced by political-administrative decisions. Luhmann applied this concept only to the (political) function system, but I think that this concept can be used also for the organizational types of social systems. That is, "technological - ecological risks" will be transformed into the risks for each organization, therefore each organization makes a different response to that risks. This concept "risk transformation" implies the similar meanings to the Ulrich Beck's concept of "social rationality", but I think that the former can formulate the "system reference (Systemreferenz)" more accurately than the latter. In 1992, the negotiation system was built by the Treuhandanstalt (THA) , the Land of Saxony, the Federal Government, and the firms in question in order to solve the problem of Altlasten (old improperly disposed of harmful waste). In this negotiation system, THA, which was founded primarily in order to facilitate the privatization of new federal states, though, acted against this purpose. Because it was important for THA to manage the limitary funds as savingly as possible. That is to say, the "technological-ecological risks" of Altlasten was transformed by the THA into the risks of ruing its motto "saving". THA had responded to this new transformed risks rather than to the "technological-ecological risks" of Altlasten directly. The social system theory will make a large contribution toward fertilizing the risk research by refining this concept"risk-transformation".