Governing the future through scenaristic and simulative modalities of imagination

Samimian-Darash, Limor

doi:10.1177/14634996211014116

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Such advance plans seek to ensure that all these interagency interactions do not have to be negotiated from scratch amid the acute political pressures of an emergency. Those systems are therefore also repeatedly honed during elaborate training exercises frequently staged inside EOCs – laying out in advance how those practices are intended to unfold during a future crisis (Samimian-Darash, 2021; Skryabina et al, 2017).…”

Section: A Prefiguration Analytics: Inventorying Sifting and Contact ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Viral sites: The oligoptical power of emergency operations centres (EOCs)

Elbe

2023

Security Dialogue

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Countries all around the world are increasingly coordinating their strategic responses to global health emergencies inside specialized new command centres called emergency operations centres (EOCs). Those bunker-like EOCs are meticulously designed to function as the global health equivalent of war rooms and are rapidly emerging as the internationally preferred sites for ‘making’ global health security in the 21st century. This article advances an in-depth site-ontological investigation into those burgeoning EOC sites. It develops a three-step methodological analytics to reveal the specific economy of prefigurative power that EOCs exude in international relations and names this oligoptical power. The article further shows how this oligoptical power is fundamentally different from the more familiar Foucauldian notion of panoptical power and has very different ramifications as it circulates throughout contemporary international relations. Yet, precisely because the EOC exemplifies this global operation of oligoptical power, the article concludes, it can be considered as one of its international signal institutions – similarly to how the prison was once a critical institutional site for revealing the circulation of disciplinary power, the laboratory for performing the sociological examination of science, and the concentration camp for deepening the analysis of biopower.

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Section: A Prefiguration Analytics: Inventorying Sifting and Contact ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Viral sites: The oligoptical power of emergency operations centres (EOCs)

Elbe

2023

Security Dialogue

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“…an already happening event). Th e scenario addresses potential future events not by accurately describing them, but by encouraging imagination and considering various plausibilities and dynamics that cannot be anticipated (Samimian-Darash 2016, 2022b. While illuminating, this body of work has rarely examined in depth what happens to scenarios when the future potential event for which we sought to prepare -a pandemic in the present case -actualises.…”

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confidence: 99%

Scenarios in a Time of Urgency

Samimian-Darash¹

2022

Social Anthropology/Anthropologie Sociale

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This article explores the connection between technology and temporality, and discusses specifically scenario technology and the temporality of urgency, in the context of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It illustrates how, despite the inherent orientation toward the future potentiality in this technology, once an actual event occurs and the temporality of preparedness is overridden by a temporality of urgency, the scenario technology is adapted to the new temporality in terms of its form and content. In correspondence with the scholarship of ‘the anthropology of the future’, the article focuses on changes in temporal orientations – specifically, with a shift from a temporality of (future) preparedness to a temporal orientation of (immediate) urgency and how such a shift in temporality affects the technology of the scenario. Moving from preparing for potential future uncertainties to responding to an urgent event set in a present that is unfolding into an uncertain, immediate future provokes a new temporal orientation, for which the initial temporality of the scenario technology becomes its limitation. Cet article explore le lien entre technologie et temporalité, et discute spécifiquement de la technologie des scénarios et de la temporalité de l'urgence, dans le contexte de la pandémie de coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). Il illustre comment, malgré l'orientation inhérente de cette technologie vers la potentialité future, une fois qu'un événement réel se produit et que la temporalité de la préparation est remplacée par une temporalité d'urgence, la technologie du scénario est adaptée à la nouvelle temporalité en termes de forme et de contenu. En correspondance avec la recherche de “l'anthropologie du futur”, l'article s'intéresse aux changements d'orientations temporelles — plus précisément, au passage d'une temporalité de préparation (future) à une orientation temporelle d'urgence (immédiate) et à la manière dont un tel changement de temporalité affecte la technologie du scénario. Passer de la préparation à des incertitudes futures potentielles à la réponse à un événement urgent dans un présent qui se déroule dans un futur incertain et immédiat provoque une nouvelle orientation temporelle, pour laquelle la temporalité initiale de la technologie du scénario devient sa limite.

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Municipal risk communication challenges in the Nordic context: Organizing risk ownership

Sataøen,

Skotnes,

Hansen

et al. 2024

Risk Hazard & Crisis Pub Pol

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At a time when disasters, pandemics, pollution, and other crises gain prominence, local governments bear a crucial responsibility for effective risk communication. Yet, there remains a gap in our understanding of how municipalities approach risk communication before a crisis occurs. This qualitative study, involving seven focus groups and 29 semistructured interviews across two Nordic countries, raises questions about ownership of municipal risk communication: What challenges do municipalities face in managing ownership in risk communication? How does the organization of communication influence municipal risk communication? The results underscore three key considerations: First, there is a critical need for municipalities to engage in definitional clarification of risk and crisis communication. Establishing a shared understanding is paramount for effective communication strategies. Second, reframing uncertainty in municipal risk communication ownership as an opportunity is suggested. Embracing the inherent uncertainties and dependencies can offer a valuable perspective. Lastly, recognizing the underappreciation of risk communication emphasizes the imperative for municipal decision makers to address resource allocation issues. This involves ensuring that communication professionals have the confidence and resources needed, vis‐à‐vis other functions involved in risk management.

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Governing the future through scenaristic and simulative modalities of imagination

Cited by 8 publications

References 50 publications

Viral sites: The oligoptical power of emergency operations centres (EOCs)

Viral sites: The oligoptical power of emergency operations centres (EOCs)

Scenarios in a Time of Urgency

Municipal risk communication challenges in the Nordic context: Organizing risk ownership

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