Localizing new social risks: International Perspectives on Multilevel Governance and Local Welfare

The chapter investigates the extent to which New Social Risks (NSR) assume a local dimension, by looking at how territorial dynamics affect social vulnerability. It introduces the concepts of new social risk and social vulnerability and reviews studies at the urban level which show the local consequences of macro trends evidenced by the social vulnerability debate. In order to distinguish the local drivers of vulnerability, it identifies two main trends: first, certain social groups are more exposed than others to local social risks, e.g., lone mothers, young, precarious elderly people; second, urban dynamics affect the capacity of those individuals to cope with situations of risk. Finally, it argues that certain localities, such as peripheries, rural areas or places that are in some way left behind, might magnify the vulnerability of some social groups.