GOVERNAMENTALITÀ E RISCHIO IN DUE CAMPUS UNIVERSITARI AMERICANI

Within each American university campus, a Department of Public Safety (DPS) is desig- nated to send students emails, labelled as crime alert, whenever a crime is committed on campus or in the surrounding area. This study sought to investigate the extent to which information sharing about criminal events through new technology devices (including apps and emails) may alter risk perception and therefore lead students to modify their behaviour. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with students (10) and DPS staff (10) and participant observation (7 months) on two US university campuses. Using the governmentality ap- proach in reading the results, new elements, related to risk and its social manifestation, emerged. The notification system of notifications is preceded by an internal selection process in which it is decided what to send or not to the students. Specifically, on the basis of evidence it is argued that some crimes, including sexual violence, are never mentioned even though they are the main issue within the campuses. Emphasizing some risks and leaving out others produces a “truth” around the risk itself.