ABSTRACT
Contributing to the literature on risk and security practices, this chapter explores what may happen when so-called pre-emptive forms of governance, as an increasingly widespread paradigm producing a focus on exceptional and disruptive events, are confronted with standardized methodologies for risk ranking. The study draws on participant observation from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the EU expert agency for infectious disease control. Contemplating the role of expert methodologies as a form of meaning-making practice, the chapter casts light on how different forms of knowledge about risk are revealed as experts are confronted with an initiative to develop a standardized risk ranking tool. The chapter concludes that the implications of the ECDC project may contrast with the strong emphasis on pre-emption of exceptional events within epidemic intelligence and preparedness activities of the organization.
