A Narrative Approach to Understanding Coordination Practices in Emergency Response

This paper examines coordination practices in emergency response by adopting a narrative networks approach (Pentland & Feldman, 2007). We apply this approach in the analysis of qualitative data collected in an empirical longitudinal study (2003–2006) of emergency response across a geographical region of Greece. We provide an in-depth narrative analysis of two different emergency incidents and the efforts to coordinate those. The paper concludes with the implications of using a narrative networks approach for understanding the temporal and situated nature of coordination, while placing emphasis on the performativity of coordination practices.