The re-forming state: Actions and repercussions in preparing for future biological events

Abstract

The article analyzes the heterogeneous forms of action within the state's preparedness assemblage for biological threats in Israel. By examining preparedness practices in two biological preparedness events -the smallpox vaccination project (a possible event) and the ongoing preparations for pandemic influenza (a virtual event) -the analysis maintains that there are a number of simultaneous state practices that emerge in response to various events. This multiplicity points to the complexity of the state not only institutionally (as a form) but also in terms of its (forms of) action. A focus on complexity contrasts with dominant anthropological approaches, which conceive of the state as a monolithic imaginary tending toward homogeneity rather than as heterogeneous, dynamic and constantly changing in practice. To study the state's dynamic form of action, I highlight a particular analytical mode that I term the 'conceptual mode'. This mode of analysis lies between the object mode of analysis (concerned with the structure and form of the state) and the idea mode of analysis (interested in how the state, as an imaginary encompassing entity, increases its power).In a study of preparedness for biological threats in Israel, 1 I observed the emergence of the state's preparedness assemblage. 2 Rather than a monolithic, static apparatus, this assemblage involves varying elements that interact and affect one another, constituting a complex and dynamic state form. 3 In this article, I look at this form by examining preparedness practices for two specific biological

Encapsulation: Governing actual uncertainty in the coronavirus pandemic

“…Global outbreaks of avian and swine flu prompted Israel's pandemic preparedness apparatus to formulate an array of measures in preparation for similar cases in the future (Samimian‐Darash, 2011). Such measures included the writing of extensive plans and the development of nationwide preparedness exercises, but public health emergencies are just one class of potential events addressed by the country's extensive emergency preparedness apparatus, with Israel's annual Turning Point exercises forming the largest scenario‐based exercises of their kind, involving government ministries, local municipalities, essential infrastructure units and all citizens (Samimian‐Darash, 2016: 359) 3…”

Hybrid Threats and Preparedness Strategies: The Reconceptualization of Biological Threats and Boundaries in Global Health Emergencies

“…From a theoretical perspective, Samimian-Darash (2011, 2013) has conceptualized this turn using the Deleuzian concepts of the virtual and the actual (Deleuze, 1994). For Deleuze, the real is formed by both the virtual 1 and the actual.…”

On parabiopolitical reason

“…The upshot is that, short of being utterly beyond the conceivable, aspiration and anticipation are the orders of the day—as much for the common man and woman as for the policy consultant. The professionalized scenario planning at the heart of parabiopolitical governmentality is far from the whole but still a noteworthy part of those orders (see, e.g., Caduff, 2015; Cerulo, 2006; Collier, 2008; Collier and Lakoff, 2008, 2015; Collier et al., 2004; Diprose et al., 2008; Keck, 2010, 2015; Lakoff, 2007, 2008; Lakoff and Collier, 2008; Mallard, 2017; Porter, 2016; Samimian-Darash and Rabinow; Samimian-Darash, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2016; Simon and De Goede, 2015; Stalcup, 2015; Stevenson and Jamieson, 2009).…”