Events

Dealing with Danger:

From Policy Metaphor to Applied 'Resilience'

Dr Peter Rogers

Macquarie University

& CSGR Visiting Fellow

16.00-18.00

Tuesday 11 October 2011

S1.50 Social Sciences

ABSTRACT: This paper interrogates the development of resilience as a
policy metaphor. By looking in more depth at the changes made to
incorporate a language of resilience into emergency management (in the
UK and Australia) the research tests the concept validity of
resilience in practice. Whilst resilience can be used to draw complementary links between pre-existing and new activities, for a
wide range of stakeholders, it also has the potential to alienate local experts and treat citizens as passive recipients of emergency services if not rolled out with careful consultation. Resilience is
intended to embed new ways of knowing, thinking, and doing into
everyday life for all potentially affected by danger. As such it is
not a catch-all phrase nor a one-shot-fix for dealing with danger, but
a refined tool-box within which the tools for dealing with danger are
brought together.

Dr Peter Rogers is a lecturer in the Sociology of Law, and Director of
the Bachelor of Social Science at Macquarie University (Sydney).
Peter's research into urban regeneration, resilience and security
fostered his keen interest in contemporary attempts to deal with
disasters. Work on the New Security Challenges programme culminated in
the Everyday Resilience of the City (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009 co-authored). He is in the final stages of writing Cities under Siege: The Rhythms of Security in the Democratic City (Ashgate) and is
currently writing up his MQ pilot research on Securing Resilience in
New South Wales whilst on research leave in the UK.

Places at the seminar are strictly limited and are offered on a first come first served basis. To attend please register your interest with Nick Vaughan-Williams as soon as possible (N.Vaughan-Williams@Warwick.ac.uk).