Risk and Resilience: International Approaches to Vulnerable Infrastructure Protection

Abstract

The health and vitality of society and its political and economic processes is partly a function of its capacity to withstand and rebound from internal and external risks. In recent years, governments have sought to understand and improve this capacity via the voguish concept of 'resilience'. Communities and critical infrastructure operators alike have been enjoined to increase their ability to withstand and rebound from natural and manmade hazards. The threats to the state and society are very real. It is apparent that 'Many contemporary disasters follow the lead of complex technology, common-mode design and multifunctional use of infrastructures' (Rosenthal, 1998, p. 152). Ulrich Beck's seminal work on 'risk society' (1992) points out that the process of modernisation itself induces increased vulnerability to society. Society is, thus, increasingly beholden to what Anthony Giddens labels 'manufactured risks' (2003).