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From Fate to Risk

This article examines the discursive transformation of death from a destined fate into a manageable and calculable risk in statistical writings dating back to the mid 17th century. It analyses early works in 'political arithmetic' and vital statistics in an effort to illuminate how death was reconceived as a more or less predictable occurrence that is governed, in the aggregate, by social, economic and political, as well as environmental factors. The construction of death as a risk played a significant role in making death amenable to political management (as in public health projects) and even economic profit-making (as in life insurance calculations). Yet, it also created an attitude of intolerance toward death and toward those segments of the population that are deemed to be at risk or high risk.