From Crisis to Emergency: The Shifting Logic of Preparedness

Following the Second Lebanon War (2006), Israeli preparedness exercises were designed in reference to that crisis event. Hold annually for more than a decade, ‘Turning Point’ exercises are now accompanied by a ‘National Emergency Week’. After three years of fieldwork in the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) and the Turning Point administration, we came to realise that the conceptualisation of preparedness for such events has morphed. Through an analytical discussion on the concepts of crisis and emergency, we argue that a shift in orientation has occurred and crisis response gave birth to emergency management. That is, preparedness is no longer driven by historical precedent but has become a form of future-oriented emergency practice. Moreover, we argue, an emergency apparatus–a distinct technology of governance–has emerged that, although varying in form and composition, has become the means and ends of civilian-front preparedness.