At the dawn of the third millennium, Confronting catastrophe addresses
natural disasters in terms of the issues arising from globalization, technological
development and consumer culture. These factors have profoundly altered
social and economic values, and international relations have responded to
a new balance of forces and ideologies. This is the context of a relentless
rise in the toll of natural disasters – earthquakes, volcanic eruptions,
hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, avalanches, tsunamis. As population and fixed
capital have increased, so has vulnerability, raising the impact of the
largest natural disasters tenfold within a decade. Disasters are not only
tragic events for people involved but also a revealing window on the workings
of society, milestones in the lives of survivors, and catalysts of hazard
mitigation. Yet the models habitually used to interpret disaster are now
decades
old and they relate to a time when society had some markedly different points
of reference. Written by one of the world’s acknowledged experts, Confronting
catastrophe is the first book to reconceptualize the study of disaster
for the new millennium.
Confronting catastrophe begins by examining the theoretical underpinnings of academic and applied work. It then considers cultural, economic and historical changes in relation to the impact of disaster on human societies. Special attention is given to the effect of new technologies on vulnerability to natural catastrophe and to the differences in impacts between industrialized nations and developing countries. It is argued that, far from being exceptional events, disasters are a normal part of life and a substantial influence on most human cultures.
Radical in perspective, infused with the insights from the author’s rich personal experience of natural disasters, underpinned by a wealth of research and teaching, and drawn from worldwide data and examples, Confronting catastrophe is essential reading for undergraduate students, researchers, disaster-management professionals, policy makers, and all those who study human reactions to the surprisingly frequent extreme behaviour of the natural environment.
Preface
The evolution of approaches to natural disaster; Academic studies of
hazards and disasters; On the unreliability of disaster data;
Why there are so few spatial models of disaster; The human ecology of disaster
Fuzzy boundaries: disasters and human cultures; Disasters and social change; The perception of disaster; A cornucopia society; Urbanization and disaster
An historical approach to modern disasters; Millennialism; The holistic approach to disasters: an example
The power of the mass media; Voyeurism; Telecommunications technology and institutions; The Internet and disasters; Disaster and the automobile; Satellites and disaster; Mitigation and the rising toll of losses; Economic growth and disasters; The changing face of emergency management; A scenario
Natural disasters and armed conflict; Violence and disasters; Do disasters make the world uglier?; Anthropomorphism and anthropocentrism; Classification, taxonomy and ranks
Natural disaster in Asia; Yemen floods; Somalia; World Food Programme operations; A local perspective; The way ahead
The DNA of disaster; Conclusion – a model; Well, so what?
Bibliography; Index
234×156mm 288pp.
ISBN: 1-903544-00-9 HB £45.00 1-903544-01-7 PB £19.95
ISBN-13: 978-1-903544-006 HB 978-1-903544-01-3 PB
Published in 2001
Available in North America from Oxford University Press
Subject: Environmental impact of natural disasters & phenomena
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