摘要：Themata are the antimonies or dyadic oppositions that lie at the root of common sense and shapehow we make sense of issues in the social world. This paper showcases and extends understandingof the role played by themata in the social representations literature, with specific reference totheir role in structuring public responses to threatening phenomena. To this end the paper reviewsempirical research examining how publics engage with a range of contemporary risk issues,namely climate change, earthquakes and emerging infectious diseases (EID). It demonstrates thata core thema, that of self/other, underpins public engagement with these diverse risks. By drawingtogether insights from the three risks it demonstrates not only that a single thema can drive adiverse set of representational fields but also the consequences of this thema both for a society’s insiders and its outsiders. Primarily, it has the consequence of identity protection and complacency for insiders and potential spoiling of identity for outsiders.
关键词：Themata; social representations; dialogical thinking; self/other; identity protection
