Network Governance as a Response to Risk Society’ Dilemmas: A Proposal from Sociology of Health

After a short description of the major sociological theories based on the concept of risk (Douglas, Beck, Luhmann, Giddens) I propose to integrate the concept of risk with the concept of trust. On a less theoretical level I propose to consider the governace as the institutional response to growing complexity of the risk society. Above all, the network governance – that is institutional steering based on a high community participation – seems to give good results in the field of health care policies, as it has been shown in Emilia-Romagna Area (Italy).