There has been a growing sociological interest in both risk and its management, and with how we cope with the uncertainties of late twentieth century life. This study traces the emergence of the "accident" as a marginal misfortune in modernist thought.

Judith Green is Lecturer in Sociology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Preface, Acknowledgements, 1 Introduction, 2 Accidents and social science, 3 Modernity and the emergence of accidents, 4 Medicine and morality, 5 Health promotion and the preventable accident, 6 Risk and high modernity, 7 The social construction of accidents, 8 Conclusions: towards an archaeology of accidents, References, Index