recurring health scares create a sense of distrust in authorities and create a desire to formalise arrangements that aim to diminish risks as much as possible (Burgess 2008). These theories of high modernity stipulate a decline of social cohesion and collective identities in general and, in the context of this article, they tend to view health risk prevention practices as the individualisation of risk in particular. This is different from bio-sociality and bio-citizenship theories, which point to the emergence of collective identities on the basis of biological characteristics (Rabinow 1992; Rose 2007). According to this approach, people increasingly engage in collective action on the basis of shared health concerns and bodily characteristics. Advances in bio-medicine enable new group formations and penetrate what it means to be human, according to Rose. The rise of (embodied) Health Social Movements (Brown et al. 2004) and patient organisations (Duyvendak and Nederland 2007), for example around cancer risks and treatment (King 2006), can be understood in this light. Although we sympathise with this line of reasoning, our approach differs from both strands of theorising. Following Collins’s (2004) micro-sociological theory of solidarity, we ask if and how health risk endeavours shape collective identity rather than individualised anxiety. We extend this theory by attending to the material-semiotics (Law 2009) of health risk prevention technology, asking how material properties and institutional networks affect emerging feelings of group membership and collective identity. In what follows, we will first introduce the automated external defibrillators as health risk technology. After that, we provide a discussion of health risks and collective identity and explain our micro-sociological approach, leading to research questions. Subsequent sections describe the methodology of the study and the results. We suggest that our approach and findings apply to various other health risk prevention practices as well and we indicate the conditions under which health related collective identities may develop, particularly with
recurring health scares create a sense of distrust in authorities and create a desire to formalise arrangements that aim to diminish risks as much as possible (Burgess 2008). These theories of high modernity stipulate a decline of social cohesion and collective identities in general and, in the context of this article, they tend to view health risk prevention practices as the individualisation of risk in particular. This is different from bio-sociality and bio-citizenship theories, which point to the emergence of collective identities on the basis of biological characteristics (Rabinow 1992; Rose 2007). According to this approach, people increasingly engage in collective action on the basis of shared health concerns and bodily characteristics. Advances in bio-medicine enable new group formations and penetrate what it means to be human, according to Rose. The rise of (embodied) Health Social Movements (Brown et al. 2004) and patient organisations (Duyvendak and Nederland 2007), for example around cancer risks and treatment (King 2006), can be understood in this light. Although we sympathise with this line of reasoning, our approach differs from both strands of theorising. Following Collins’s (2004) micro-sociological theory of solidarity, we ask if and how health risk endeavours shape collective identity rather than individualised anxiety. We extend this theory by attending to the material-semiotics (Law 2009) of health risk prevention technology, asking how material properties and institutional networks affect emerging feelings of group membership and collective identity. In what follows, we will first introduce the automated external defibrillators as health risk technology. After that, we provide a discussion of health risks and collective identity and explain our micro-sociological approach, leading to research questions. Subsequent sections describe the methodology of the study and the results. We suggest that our approach and findings apply to various other health risk prevention practices as well and we indicate the conditions under which health related collective identities may develop, particularly with
168092_Weenink_Br_er_Boersma_Health_risks_collective_identities_prepublished_version.docx