In late medieval and early modern Europe, textual and visual records of disaster and mass death allow us to encounter the intense emotions generated through the religious, providential and apocalyptic frameworks that provided these events with meaning. This collection brings together historians, art historians, and literary specialists in a cross-disciplinary collection shaped by new developments in the history of emotions. It offers a rich range of analytical frameworks and case studies, from the emotional language of divine providence to individual and communal experiences of disaster. Geographically wide-ranging, the collection also analyses many different sorts of media: from letters and diaries to broadsheets and paintings. Through these and other historical records, the contributors examine how communities and individuals experienced, responded to, recorded and managed the emotional dynamics and trauma created by dramatic events like massacres, floods, fires, earthquakes and plagues.

Industrial Disasters, Toxic Waste, and Community Impact focuses on hazardous and toxic wastes releases, industrial disasters, the consequent contamination of communities and the environment, and the subsequent social impacts, including adverse health effects, deaths and property destruction, psychosocial problems, and community disruption. This book explains the emergence of a sociological study of risk and of natural, technological, and hybrid disasters, along with a review of the accumulated body of knowledge in the field. It is unique in its integration of sociological perspectives with perspectives from other disciplines when discussing the problems posed by technological hazards both in advanced industrialized societies and in the underdeveloped world. Francis O. Adeola extends the field through an innovative presentation of topics which up to now have had sparse treatment in sociology texts. This book starts by presenting the sociology of hazardous waste, risk, and disasters as a relatively new development, engendering both a growing passion and an increasing volume of empirical research among scholars. Next, it describes how hazardous and toxic wastes disposal, exposure, remediation, and proximate adverse health consequences have risen to the level of endemic social problem both in the United States and around the world. After discussing these cases in relation to contemporary theories of industrial and organizational disasters, Adeola delves into classifying of hazardous wastes, indicating the characteristics of each type of waste, and identifying what makes them especially dangerous to people and the environment. Other major topics addressed in the rest of the book include electronic waste (e-waste) as a new species of trouble in terms of the volume and toxicity of global e-waste generation and management, the environmental and health risks of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), case studies of contaminated communities within the United States and across the globe, the international flows of toxic waste, analysis of risk and environmental contamination by race and ethnicity in the United States, and the juxtaposition of the issues of environmental justice and human rights. With its many contributions to environmental sociology, Industrial Disasters, Toxic Waste, and Community Impact will be a valuable addition to the libraries of students, scholars, and practitioners interested in the intersection of toxic waste releases, human exposure to contaminants, and public health.

This collection explores the ways in which traumatic experience becomes a part of public memory. It explores the premise that traumatic events are realities; they happen in the world, not in the fantasy life of individuals or in the narrative frames of our televisions and cinemas.

Die geliefde skrywer Dana Snyman deel sy waarnemings en belewenisse van die vreemdste tye wat ons nog beleef het: Die boek begin triomfantelik met die Springbokke wat die Rugbywêreldbeker wen, en toegejuig word tydens optogte deur die hoofstede van ons land. Maar baie vinnig verander alles. Die koronavirus slaan toe, en die hele wêreld word onderstebo gekeer. “Dinge is anders nou, meneer, in die tyd van die gif,” soos ’n ou oom by die plaaslike kafee vir Dana vertel.

Dana beskryf die eerste veertig dae van die eerste inperking; dan ry hy trein om sy sterwende vriend in Gauteng te gaan groet. Hy skryf oor die treinrit, en ook oor die treine wat nie meer ry nie. Laastens praat hy met die mense wat die grootste gevaar loop ter wille van ander – die dokters en verpleegsters wat die siekes versorg. Dan kry hy self ook Covid19.

Dana se kenmerkende fyn waarneming maak In Die Tyd Van Die Gif ’n leesmoet. Daar is pyn en verlies, maar ook geloof en hoop. Dit alles met ’n goeie skeut humor.

"Unraveling Environmental Disasters" provides scientific explanations of the most threatening current and future environmental disasters, including an analysis of ways that the disaster could have been prevented and how therisk of similar disasters can be minimized in the future.
Treats disasters as complex systems.Provides predictions based upon sound science, such as what the buildup of certain radiant gases in the troposphere will do, or what will happen if current transoceanic crude oil transport continues.Considers the impact of human systems on environmental disasters."

This is the first English language book that systematically introduces the spatial and temporal patterns of major natural disasters in China from 1949 to 2014. It also reveals natural disaster formation mechanisms and processes, quantifies vulnerability to these disasters, evaluates disaster risks, summarizes the key strategies of integrated disaster risk governance, and analyzes large-scale disaster response cases in recent years in China. The book can be a good reference for researchers, students, and practitioners in the field of natural disaster risk management and risk governance for improving the understanding of natural disasters in China.

The First 72 Hours is the seminal anthology of the perspectives of public and private sector leaders who came together after September 11, 2001 to design more disaster-resilient communities. Under the umbrella of the Suburban Emergency Management Project, these leaders learned from national experts and one another that all disasters are intensely local at first and that most communities are on their own immediately following disaster impact--often for as long as 72 hours. This new awareness mandated updating strategies to improve disaster preparedness, particularly in light of the threat of terrorism. A wide gamut of perspectives are laid out in the book, including those of doctors and hospitals, city managers, police officers, firefighters, paramedics, American Red Cross volunteers, hospital accreditors, the media, business managers, utility companies, emergency managers, public health officials, academics, and elected public officials. to map the myriad organizations involved in local disaster preparedness and response; analyzing, refining and rehearsing local disaster roles; and getting to know individual personalities when in specific roles. The First 72 Hours is an essential resource for professionals and private citizens alike who want to know what kinds of questions must be asked and answered to better prepare their communities to survive future disaster. There's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all.--Hamlet V, II, William Shakespear

Scholars who have studied rural people and places often have focused on a snapshot in time as they attempt to understand how human beings are impacted by change at the local community level. Community once was declared dead as a unit of analysis for social science scholars, yet the citizens who live in these places find that their attachments to place and to other people in these places are crucial to their lives. Too often those who study such phenomena fail to examine the longterm impacts of shocks to place and people. This methodological failing often leads to exaggerated estimations of the impacts of disasters on communities and their residents. Human beings and the social structures they create are resilient. In this book, the author fills some of the gaps in our knowledge when he returns repeatedly to Buffalo Creek for several years, long after the flash flood departed in 1972. It is not often that a scholar with empathy for rural citizens returns to a place for many years to understand the longer term implications of disasters for individual well-being. This book provides a view of a place long after the tragedy has taken place. It illustrates how community residents struggle to re-create community and well-being after a serious ecological shock. The resilience of the human character and the adaptability of community structures form the core of this book. Taking us through the days before the flash flood at Buffalo Creek, the author paints a portrait of human failings and of growing environmental danger. He draws on the voices that were there on the scene. He also gives us a detailed review of newspaper accounts, government documents, and research studies, including Kai Erikson's classic disaster study, Everything in Its Path. From these many sources, we get a multi-faceted account of how the disaster occurred and how dozens of local, state, and federal agencies responded to it. After the Disaster provides detailed discussions with local residents, survey data, and a gift for integration that allows the reader to gain an understanding of how disasters impact communities in the short term and in the long term. The latter is one of the most important contributions of this book.

Whether a natural event turns into a disaster depends on the severity of the hazard as well as the condition of the social sphere of its potential victims, i.e., vulnerability. We focus on regional vulnerability considering the fact that regional socioeconomic conditions determine the aspects of the damage and thus the risk management policy. This book provides the theory and methodology to understand and cope with regional vulnerability through an interdisciplinary approach. The fields mainly included in this work are welfare and environmental economics, the planning and management area of civil engineering, and risk management. In particular, we focus on hazard and vulnerability surrounding water issues and provide readers with knowledge of how the regional analysis is incorporated into the vulnerability analysis. Also considered is what risk management should be when the diversified regional background of the vulnerability is taken into account. A feature of this book is that it provides contrastive regional coverage: the vulnerability of a developed country-urban and regional areas of Japan-and that of a developing country, Bangladesh. The contents consist of three parts: (1) Socioeconomic Vulnerability in a Regional Perspective, (2) Evaluation of Regional Vulnerability, and (3) Coping with Regional Vulnerability. This book is highly recommended to researchers who need an up-to-date and interdisciplinary approach to deal with risk management where regional vulnerability plays an important role.

Civil society organizations (CSOs) have played important roles over the years in the disaster field. Starting from the traditional approach of response and relief, the emphasis has gradually shifted to disaster risk reduction. From international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to national and local NGOs, all stakeholders have recognized the significance of and need for community-based risk reduction. In their different capacities they have endeavored to establish links to the policy options at the local and national levels. There still are many issues that remain untouched by CSOs, however, and local CSOs face special challenges in resources in terms of human, financial, and technical issues. Drawing examples from Asia, this book is structured on the roles of CSOs according to the Hyogo Framework for Action priority areas: policy making, risk assessment, education and training, underlying risk factors, and response-recovery. The primary target groups for this book are students and researchers in the fields of environment, disaster risk reduction, and climate change studies. The book provides a clear view of the current trends of research in the field and furnishes basic knowledge on these important topics. Another target group comprises practitioners and policy makers, who will be able to apply the knowledge collected here to policy and decision making.

This book covers several dimensions of disaster studies as an emerging discipline. It is the inaugural book in the series 'Disaster Studies and Management' and deals with questions such as "Is disaster management a field of practice, a profession, or simply a new area of study?" Exploring intersectionalities, the book also examines areas of research that could help enhance the discourse on disaster management from policy and practice perspectives, revisiting conventional event-centric approaches, which are the basis for most writings on the subject. Several case studies and comparative analyses reflect a critical reading of research and practice concerning disasters and their management. The book offers valuable insights into various subjects including the challenge of establishing inter- and multi-disciplinary teams within the academia involved in disaster studies, and sociological and anthropological readings of post-disaster memoryscapes. Each of the contributors has an enduring interest in disaster studies, thus enriching the book immensely. This book will be of interest to all the students and scholars of disaster studies and disaster management, as well as to practitioners and policymakers.

This analysis of the aftermath of earthquakes in Japan, Turkey and India reveals important insights into how the outcome of each was affected by the different styles of state-society relationships. Using a comparative approach the book also seeks to draw out patterns and lessons that can be applied more generally to societies in the aftermath of such events. The result is a groundbreaking work that will be of major importance to all those whose work involves them in dealing with the aftermath of disasters and major conflict

Andrea Simonelli provides the first in-depth evaluation of climate displacement in the field of political science, specifically global governance. She evaluates four intergovernmental organizations (UNHCR, IOM, OCHA and the UNFCCC), and the structural and political constraints regarding their potential expansion to govern this new issue area.

Hurricane Katrina and the Redefinition of Landscape discusses the ways in which Hurricane Katrina and other such disasters that follow in the wake of large-scale natural phenomena have the ability to alter the physical and social landscapes of an area. Miller and Rivera emphasize the importance of the physical landscape and explore the ways in which any alteration to the landscape affects the economic, cultural, and political lives of the survivors. Through the example of Hurricane Katrina and the resulting devastation to New Orleans, Miller and Rivera suggest that economic and political policies should be more reflective of each unique physical location, thereby aiding in the development and sustainability of different cultures, economies, and political landscapes.

This book addresses two common problems encountered by emergency services personnel: the design and implementation of evacuation warning systems to ensure citizen compliance with the directives of authorities and the permanent relocation of families threatened by hazards. The authors pay particular attention to the problems of constructing warning messages; to the citizen's interpretation of message content; the techniques of delivering warning messages; and the management of citizen movements out of threatened areas. Administrative issues related to variations in compliance among ethnic groups are also noted. In the second section, the authors explore the social psychological impact and the logistical, administrative, public policy, and political aspects of relocation. They elaborate a series of principles of positive relocation general enough to apply to a variety of relocation situations.

Responding to Catastrophic Events brings together the leading scholars and practitioners of consequence management to instruct a new generation in how to respond to both natural disasters and manmade events. Focusing on the relationship of disaster management to national security and the Department of Defense, the contributors cover a range of potential scenarios and address the distinct responsibilities of first responders, the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, and State, and the military. They also point to the importance of having a plan for the media and knowing the legal obstacles and issues that may arise in a disaster situation. Using recent case studies to provide lessons learned for future responses to disasters, Responding to Catastrophic Events is a comprehensive and vital reader for any scholar of public policy, emergency management, or strategic studies.

This book is a pioneering regional work and provides a balanced approach of theory and practice in disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Pakistan. The book analytically discusses the status of DRR and draws examples and lessons from national and community-level programs and projects and events in the country. The book covers different types of disasters facing Pakistan, including geo-physical and hydro-meteorological hazards. This work incorporates and draws some of the key lessons learned from the pre-disaster and disaster phases to the post-disaster phase, providing an effective framework in the form of those lessons. The rich content is based on a selection of available documents, a consultative workshop with academicians from different universities undertaking DRR higher education programs, and the editors' own knowledge and experience in the field. Special emphasis is given to analyzing field experiences from academic perspectives, and pinpointing key issues and the policy relevance of DRR. Disaster Risk Reduction Approaches in Pakistan is organized into three sections with a total of 20 chapters. Section one provides the outline and basics of DRR strategies applied at the national level with supporting examples from a global review. Section two specifically highlights the wide ranges of hazards experienced in Pakistan and presents examples, policy options, institutional set-ups, risk reduction strategies, and key lessons learned. The third section of the book is given to approaches and issues of DRR practices with examples of disaster responses.

Assembling a high profile group of scholars and practitioners, this book investigates the interplay of forecasting; warnings about, and responses to, known and unknown transnational risks. It challenges conventional accounts of 'failures' of warning and preventive policy in both the academic literature and public debate.

COVID-19 in the United States is a classic tragedy of destruction following errors in judgment Naomi Zack presents social and political aspects of this disaster as it unfolded in public health through federal and local government structures, society, culture, and the economy. Federalism combined with politics in facing and denying the SARS-CoV2 pandemic has revealed both weaknesses and strengths. Preparation was woefully inadequate for the 2020 tidal wave of COVID-19 that broke over the medical system, the educational system, the lives of the poor, essential workers, racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly, and women, especially. Rhetoric and conspiracy theories flourished, as Red and Blue Americans politicized the pandemic. Police reform became urgent after billions witnessed George Floyd's death. The war of the statues evoked new conflicts over free speech. The X-ray nature of COVID-19 revealed the United States to itself, in character, incompetence, superstition, and injustice, but also in dedication to caring for others and abiding resilience. The core of democracy held after the 2020 election but vigilance is newly important and required. As a record of this US Plague Year and an argument for why we need to prepare for Climate Change, as well as the next pandemic, this book is an essential resource for every student, scholar, and citizen.