Coping with the new risks: Understanding, Organization and Economics

The new risks imposed by terrorist threats challenge our normal way of dealing with risk. They both challenge the way we perceive risk, they challenge the way we organise and coordinate safety work and they challenge our normal thinking of how to choose e ffective and efficient counter measures. The measures actually chosen may also influence people's risk perceptions, behaviours and emotions. In order to better understand the way we cope with these new risks the following research project is proposed. T he project consists of three workpackages (WPs) dealing with these questions, two theoretical work packages (WP 1 and 2) and one empirically focused work package (WP 3) analysing both institutinal arrangements, procedures and public perceptions and reacti ons to the security programmes chosen. Work package 1 is an integrated framework for cultural analysis of risk. Besides extensive reading of the research literature it will rely on the theoretical and empirical findings of the two other work packages. Work package 2 will consist of two types of analyses: 1) Cost-benefit analyses of the passenger-security programs adopted at airports and subways. 2) Game theoretic considerations and game theoretic models will developed in order to analyse the allocati on of sercurityresources between transport modes (PhD fellowship). Work package 3 consists of two subtasks: 1) A study of the insitutional arrangements, organistation and coordination of security programmes at airports and harbours in Norway and Sweden and 2) A study of people's perceptions, acceptance and reactions to the security programmes adopted in both countries. Methods used will both be qualitative interviews and quantitative analyses of questionnaires. Results will be disseminatad by way of s cientific articles and seminars and integrated into the master program ESST organised by TIK at University of Oslo.