危机和灾害外文翻译.docVIP

外文翻译 原文 A New World of Crises and Disasters Material Source: Louisiana State University Author: Arjen Boin The world of crises and disasters is shifting. The frequency, nature, and consequences of these adverse events are changing (Missiroli, 2006; OECD, 2003; Posner,2004; Quarantelli, Lagadec, Boin, 2006; Robb, 2007). This shift in possible adversity poses new challenges to political-administrative elites. It also spurs a new research agenda for students of the public sector. This opening statement should not be taken as an apodictic overstatement. Crises and disasters may be getting worse in some ways, but the capacity to deal with some of these adverse events is growing. It is, for instance, easily forgotten that some “traditional” disasters rarely occur in modern societies, where they used to be ubiquitous not so long ago (think of cholera, bridge collapses, and theater fires). In fact, there is ample evidence to suggest we are safer today than we have ever been before (Wildavsky, 1988). Yet, the shape and dynamics of crises and disasters is changing. They have different causes, play out differently, draw different reactions, and affect societies in different ways. This special issue takes stock of this development. The contributors assess the changing nature of crises and disasters, explore existing and emerging challenges, and formulate research questions that demand our attention. In this introduction, I sketch a theoretical ideal type of the modern crisis, which I will refer to as the transboundary crisis. The contributions in this special issue strongly suggest that the crises of the future will be increasingly transboundary in nature. These events are likely to last much longer than contemporary crises, as they infect other sectors and functions, changing continuously. They are likely to cause more damage, but in a different way. Much more than before, they pose a critical challenge to the legitimacy base of pu