Crisis and Emergency Governance

“We are in the midst of crisis.” Barak Obama, January 20, 2009. What does it mean to live ‘in the midst of crisis’? How are crises identified and prioritized? How is the concept of crisis itself evolving and what are the implications of these changes for governance?

Researchers contributing to the Crisis and Emergency Governance theme of CSIG are committed to understanding crises and emergencies as inherently political phenomena.

Moving beyond technological and managerial ‘solutions’, our research is committed to analysing crises and emergencies as complex socio-cultural phenomena requiring more sophisticated frameworks of analysis to understand and ultimately resolve. 

By taking a radically multi-disciplinary approach to the investigation of contemporary crises and emergencies our research aims to provide timely insights into the rapidly evolving practice of crisis and emergency governance in both the global North and South.

Researchers in this area have considered:

  • The processes of complex emergence driving contemporary emergencies
  • The evolving rationalities and practices of risk and resilience
  • The divergent social, economic and political consequences arising from crises
  • Contemporary and historical epistemologies of financial, environmental and political crises
  • Global political economies of crisis and emergency governance

Thematic lead: Dr Chris Zebrowski

Members: