From Edgework to Edgeworking: The Interplay of Risk and the Life Course

This conceptual article adopts a life course perspective to reframe edgework as ‘edgeworking’: an ongoing negotiation of risks that reflects developmental, socio-ecological and temporal-historical adjustments throughout human life. In contrast to static and universalistic conceptualisations of edgework that characterise voluntary risk-taking as siloed, rarefied and self-edifying practices, we draw attention to the myriad transitions, turning points, structural changes and timing of life events that put individuals on or close to various ‘edges’ as they skilfully cope, regain a sense of control and help themselves or others. Drawing upon illustrative observations from the broader sociological literature, we identify several novel dimensions of edgeworking: porosity, surrogacy & proxy, and legacy. Using these dimensions, we complicate the assumption of voluntarism that sits at the heart of edgework theory and argue that volition as it pertains to risk-taking is rarely clear-cut but is more often a highly contingent outcome of human development and vicissitude.