STATES OF EMERGENCY - Patrick Lagadec

The weapons of crisis 17created this kind of setting: Union Carbide was fighting to survive; thechemical industry worldwide suffered a deep blow to its public image in thelight of the terrifying catastrophe; multinationals in general saw a resurgenceof the typical attacks launched against them; and a particularly stressfulNorth-South dialogue opened up.The contextAs we have seen, it doesn't require a veritable major catastrophe to set thisscenario in motion. The crux of the issue lies in the relationship between theintrinsic force of the event and the potential instability of the context in whichit takes place. This is why it is worth looking at the many footholds a crisisfinds in the accident environment. These can be defined at several analyticallevels.The immediate framework of the accidentNumerous crisis factors fall into this category. The breakdown need only:- elicit, for one reason or another, descriptions connected with keywordsor expressions like nuclear, dioxin, chemical warfare, epidemic, water table,toxic waste, or potable water supply,- not lend itself to being completely circumscribed in a given space ortime period,- threaten vulnerable groups such as children or pregnant women,- be the latest accident in a series, even if it isn't the most serious,- or prove the blatant falsehood of prior official assurances (or seem todo so).By the same token, if:- no one "guilty party" can be pinpointed,- no official service seems to be in charge of this type of problem,- those placed in charge are unable to speak with a minimum of authorityabout the situation, or seem unwilling to communicate,- Science cannot provide an on-the-spot, simple, unequivocal, andreassuring explanation of the situation,- conflicts develop between the major actors in the event,- specific local issues add to the complexity of the event,- various coincidences lead to unfavorable circumstances, then the crisis isoff and running.The case of the sinking of the Tanio, in and of itself a minor accident,reveals very well how the intrinsic gravity of a failure is only one elementamong many in the development of a post-accident crisis.The Tanio: After the first shock of the Torrey Canyon in 1967 and the monumentalAmoco Cadiz spill in 1978, the Britanny region of France was hit by another oil slickin 1980. This case reached the brink of crisis. The event in and of itself, involving