"The sociology of hazardous waste, risk, and disasters is a relatively new discipline with an increasing volume of empirical research by scholars. Francis O. Adeola focuses this book on hazardous and toxic wastes releases, industrial toxic disasters, contamination of communities and the environment, and the subsequent adverse health effects among exposed populations. He explains the emerging sociological study of risk, natural, and technological disasters, and he reviews the accumulated body of knowledge in the field up-to-date. This groundbreaking work integrates sociological perspectives with perspectives from other disciplines in the discussion of the problems posed by technological hazards both in advanced industrialized societies and in underdeveloped world"--

In this penetrating account of the impacts of risk on everyday life, Gabe Mythen provides a theoretically informed overview of the regulation of crime and security in a globalized world. By explicating the relationships between risk and crime, security and justice, the text applies risk to specific incidents and events, scrutinizing social processes and cultural practices, and illumining some of the central social and political issues of the modern age. Extending across a range of domains - including law, the environment, media and politics - Mythen embarks on a conceptual and critical exploration of risk theory. In doing so, his incisive text presents both a critical evaluation of the efficacy of competing perspectives on risk, and an authoritative appraisal of the place of risk within the social sciences.

This book is dedicated to furthering scientific understanding of drought assessment and management and the policy issues associated with drought preparedness worldwide. The authors invited to contribute to the volume are uniquely qualified to address their respective topics. The book is divided into two parts. Part One emphasizes theoretical aspects of drought assessment, management, and preparedness; it also includes a discussion of the concept of drought. These chapters are aimed at improving the reader's understanding and awareness of drought; appropriate technologies to monitor drought's onset, development and termination; emerging methodologies to estimate impacts; adjustment strategies to alleviate drought effects; and a methodology for countries to follow in the development of a national drought policy and plan. Part One concludes with an insightful examination of how changes in climate may alter climatic variability and the frequency and intensity of extreme events, particularly drought. The successes and failures of previous assessment and response efforts are highlighted in Part Two through case studies in Israel, India, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, the United States, and China. Several of these case studies provide insight into the difficulties inherent in the provision of timely and effective drought assistance by government in both a developed and developing country setting. The lessons learned in these instances provide both an extraordinary opportunity and challenge to other drought-prone nations to learn from these experiences and avoid some of the mistakes of the past. Some of the case studies in Part Two illustrate remarkable progress in drought preparedness andare examples for other nations to follow.

The "precautionary principle" is widely seen as fundamental to successful policies for sustainability. It has been cited in international courts and trade disputes between the USA and the EU, and invoked in a growing range of political debates. Understanding what it can and cannot achieve is therefore crucial.;This volume looks back over the last century to examine the role the "principle" played or could have played, in a range of major and avoidable public disasters. From detailed investigation of how each disaster unfolded, what the impacts were and what measures were adopted, the authors draw lessons and establish criteria that could help to minimise the health and environmental risks of future technological, economic and policy innovations.;This is an informative resource for all those from lawyers and policy-makers, to researchers and students needing to understand or apply the "principle".

Floods occur in most parts of the world and range from being welcomed annual occurrences, to natural disasters which have countless physical and societal impacts.
Floods presents the most comprehensive collection to date of new research, providing a rich body of theory and experience and drawing together contributions from over fifty leading international researchers in the field. An extensive range of case-studies covering major floods and regions prone to flooding worldwide are included.

This book employs epistemological, methodological and discursive approaches to explore the practices of tourism stakeholders in Covid-19 affected destinations and to understand and explain their everyday real-time doings and sayings. It discusses the changing practices of tourists and stakeholders at both micro and meso levels and provides a range of contexts and destination case studies offering insights into supply and demand. The issues examined in the volume will have continued implications for further study of the relationships between tourism, crises, pandemics and global travel. It will be a useful resource for researchers and students in tourism studies, geography, politics and policy, as well as sociology, history, crisis management and development studies.

Contents:
1. The Earth and Nuclear Power 2. Sources and Resources 3. How Reactors Work 4. Cooling Reactors 5. Loss of Cooling 6. Loss of Cooling Accident: Some Examples 7. Postulated Severe Accidents 8. Cooling During Fuel Removal and Processing

In recent years, the number of presidential declarations of "major disasters" has skyrocketed. Such declarations make stricken areas eligible for federal emergency relief funds that greatly reduce their costs. But is federalizing the costs of disasters helping to lighten the overall burden of disasters or is it making matters worse? Does it remove incentives for individuals and local communities to take measures to protect themselves? Are people more likely to invest in property in hazardous locations in the belief that, if worse comes to worst, the federal government will bail them out?."Disasters and Democracy" addresses the political response to natural disasters, focusing specifically on the changing role of the federal government from distant observer to immediate responder and principal financier of disaster costs.

The field of disaster law has witnessed a huge surge in interest over the past few years. Building widespread recognition of the shortcomings of legal systems faced with disasters, academics have increasingly turned their attention to exploring how these failings can be addressed. This volume is a carefully selected collection of essays which focus on the legal and economic aspects of disaster law and pays particular attention to the legalities of catastrophes. The editors have brought together seminal papers analysing how disasters, both natural and man-made, could be prevented and investigating the ways in which compensation for such events could be provided.This set of indispensable papers examines such issues through a variety of analytical lenses and provides a solid foundation for future developments in this dynamic and highly topical subject.

This text argues that "Natural" disasters have more to do with the social, political, and economic aspects than they do with the environmental hazards that trigger them. Disasters occur at the interface of vulnerable people and hazardous environments. The author concentrates on the social aspects of disaster, focusing on the most expensive disaster to date in US history, the Northridge earthquake of 1994, to examine the facets of vulnerability and post-disaster recovery strategies. Surveying the historical and contemporary aspects of life in Southern California the author explains how vulnerability to disaster has been shaped by more than a century of immigration, urbanization, environmental transformations and economic development. Examining other recent disasters alongside Northridge, this book provides a global view of the social effects of disaster in developed and developing countries. An insight into the field, the text presents aspects of sustainable development and state policy and concludes with considerations of ways that vulnerability can be reduced in the future.

Hurricane Katrina was a pivotal event in the history of disaster mismanagement. Its impact will be felt well into the future and its lessons will be applied around the world. This influential volume explores key policy implications arising from the storm and its aftermath. Leading scholars from fields as diverse as decision analysis, risk management, economics engineering, transportation, urban planning and sociology investigate the policy issues associated with insurance, flood control and the rebuilding of levees, housing, tourism, utility lifelines recovery and resilience, evacuation, relocation and racial implications.By assessing the disruption of life in New Orleans, as well as the inter-regional economic impacts of the disaster, the authors suggest steps that can be taken to minimize future risks, not only in New Orleans but also in all locations threatened by natural disasters. It then goes beyond Katrina to explore experiences and responses to similar events in other parts of the world. Another important feature is a discussion of the overlap between terrorist-initiated disasters and natural disasters. The issues raised by Katrina are very complex and teasing out successful policy implications is far from easy. This book is a major advance towards that goal. Academics interested in the economics, policy, and planning aspects of natural and man-made disasters, specialists in emergency management and policymakers will find the insights and prescriptions offered here invaluable.

This book explores how social, economic and political factors set the stage for Hurricane Andrew by influencing who was prepared, who was hit the hardest, and who was most likely to recover. Employing unique research data the authors analyze the consequences of conflict and competition on disaster preparation, response and recovery, especially where associated with race, ethnicity and gender.

Over the past decade, several major natural disasters have had devastating impacts throughout the United States and the world. Since larger populations now live and work on land vulnerable to various hazards, natural disasters can be expected to affect more people each year. As a result, the social work profession soon will be stretched to its limits as it attempts to respond to growing human needs in the wake of hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, floods, earthquakes, and human-made technological disasters. Research on Social Work and Disasters provides the essential strategies social work researchers, other social scientists in the area of disaster research, and emergency management personnel need to prepare for and recover from all forms of disaster.Focusing on hazard, risk, and disaster research, this book presents conceptual approaches and empirical findings in this emerging and important area of social work. It includes research on natural and technological disasters as they impact both rural and urban environments. Research on Social Work and Disasters offers conceptual and methodological guidelines for social work researchers and provides insight into the range of opportunities and issues relevant for disaster research. Specific topics you will learn about include: research design, methodology, and measurement community awareness and activism traumatic stress and stress debriefing funding and ethical issues vulnerable populations hazard education action researchResearch on Social Work and Disasters not only addresses effective strategies for responding in the aftermath of particular disasters, but also suggests significant ways in which the social work profession can become involved in prevention, mitigation, and preparedness activities. The book features examples of recent research on disasters chosen to illustrate a variety of types of disasters, theoretical approaches, methodologies, and levels of analysis. The implications drawn from this book are consistent in suggesting the responsibility of society to care for vulnerable populations and to share the burdens caused by catastrophic events.

Over the past decade, several major natural disasters have had devastating impacts throughout the United States and the world. Since larger populations now live and work on land vulnerable to various hazards, natural disasters can be expected to affect more people each year. As a result, the social work profession soon will be stretched to its limits as it attempts to respond to growing human needs in the wake of hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, floods, earthquakes, and human-made technological disasters. Research on Social Work and Disasters provides the essential strategies social work researchers, other social scientists in the area of disaster research, and emergency management personnel need to prepare for and recover from all forms of disaster.Focusing on hazard, risk, and disaster research, this book presents conceptual approaches and empirical findings in this emerging and important area of social work. It includes research on natural and technological disasters as they impact both rural and urban environments. Research on Social Work and Disasters offers conceptual and methodological guidelines for social work researchers and provides insight into the range of opportunities and issues relevant for disaster research. Specific topics you will learn about include: research design, methodology, and measurement community awareness and activism traumatic stress and stress debriefing funding and ethical issues vulnerable populations hazard education action researchResearch on Social Work and Disasters not only addresses effective strategies for responding in the aftermath of particular disasters, but also suggests significant ways in which the social work profession can become involved in prevention, mitigation, and preparedness activities. The book features examples of recent research on disasters chosen to illustrate a variety of types of disasters, theoretical approaches, methodologies, and levels of analysis. The implications drawn from this book are consistent in suggesting the responsibility of society to care for vulnerable populations and to share the burdens caused by catastrophic events.

This theoretical contribution argues that the domination of Western knowledge in disaster scholarship has allowed normative policies and practices of disaster risk reduction to be imposed all over the world. It takes a postcolonial approach to unpack why scholars claim that disasters are social constructs while offering little but theories, concepts and methods supposed to be universal in understanding the unique and diverse experiences of millions of people across very different cultures. It further challenges forms of governments inherited from the Enlightenment that have been rolled out as standard and ultimate solutions to reduce the risk of disaster. Ultimately, the book encourages the emergence of a more diverse set of world views/senses and ways of knowing for both studying disasters and informing policy and practice of disaster risk reduction. Such pluralism is essential to better reflect local realities of what disasters actually are around the world. This book is an essential read for scholars and postgraduate students interested in disaster studies as well as policy-makers and practitioners of disaster risk reduction.

This volume is the proceedings of a NATO-sponsored Advanced Study Institute (ASI) entitled "Coping with Flash Floods" held in Ravello, Italy on 8-17 November 1999. Thirty-five participants from nine countries attended the ASI, representing both developed (United States, England, Italy, and Mexico) and developing (Poland, Uganda, Greece, Ukraine, and Slovenia) countries. Participants from a variety of professions and disciplines were involved including a hydraulics engineering professor from Slovenia, four members from the Polish Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, and a U. S. Geological Survey research hydrologist from Puerto Rico. Although the ASI was officially composed of lecturers and students, these roles were blurred as each person shared information and ideas, and learned from the other participants during the 10 days. One of the highlights of the ASI was the collaborative effort of participants from different countries and disciplines. It was particularly extraordinary that the two engineers from Greece made the most passionate pleas for long term sustainable solutions to flash floods. A further example is that while there were only three participants with social science backgrounds, most of the recommendations focus on the policy and societal priorities, more than the engineering, hydrologic or meteorologic efforts.

The Causes and Behavioral Consequences of Disasters brings a public health perspective to the literature, reflecting the increasing importance of the field in both disaster preparedness and disaster response. Arguing that a disaster is not only the event but its aftermath as well, the authors apply salient local content to the study of scenarios ranging from the Cuzco, Peru, earthquake of 1950 to the Columbine school shooting, the Oklahoma City bombing, and 9/11. These case studies form the basis for models of vulnerabilities to disasters and population behavior following disasters, illustrating how careful pre-event planning and coordinated post-event response strategies can minimize the initial damage and negative aftereffects. The Causes and Behavioral Consequences of Disasters will further professional discussion and understanding among a wide range of professionals and students across public health, mental health, education, health administration and policy, social work, and the social sciences.

This book contains general recommendations for site clearing after man-made and natural disasters. It provides guidelines on the demolition of damaged structures and the reuse of demolition and construction materials. It has been prepared by an international task force originating from cooperation between RILEM and UNESCO. The book provides guidance for professionals and organizations on this increasingly important subject of disaster planning.

In a village community in the highlands of Cambodia's Southwest, people struggle to rebuild their lives after nearly thirty years of war and genocide. Recovery is a tenuous process as villagers attempt to shape a future while contending with the terrible rupture of the Pol Pot era. Forest of Struggle tracks the fragile progress of restoring the bonds of community in O'Thmaa and its environs, the site of a Khmer Rouge base and battlefield for nearly three decades between 1970 and 1998. Anthropologist Eve Zucker's ethnographic fieldwork (2001-2003, 2010) uncovers the experiences of the people of O'Thmaa in the early days of the revolution, when some villagers turned on each other with lethal results. She examines memories of violence and considers the means by which relatedness and moral order are re-established, comparing O'Thmaa with villages in a neighbouring commune that suffered similar but not identical trauma. Zucker argues that those differing experiences shape present ways of healing and making the future. Events had a devastating effect on the social and moral order at the time and continue to impair the remaking of sociality and civil society today, impacting villagers' responses to changes in recent years. More positively, Zucker persuasively illustrates how Cambodians employ indigenous means to reconcile their painful memories of loss and devastation. This point is noteworthy given current debates on recovery surrounding the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. Forest of Struggle offers a compelling case study that is relevant to anyone interested in post-conflict recovery, social memory, the anthropology of morality and violence, and Cambodia studies.

This book assesses critically the British approach to hazard management and emergency planning. It identifies the principal legal, organizational and cultural impediments to more effective hazard management and emergency planning, postulates explanations for the shortcomings in the British approach and examines a number of promising avenues for improving current practice. It comprises 18 chapters written by experts with a wide range of practical experience in the many different aspects of the field. Many of the authors introduce international perspectives and comparisons. From it all, the editors conclude, sadly: 'The overall hazard and emergency management approach currently adopted in Britain appears to be inadequate and current standards of protection appear to be inefficient for the 1990s and beyond'

The Three Mile Island and Chernobyl nuclear incidents emphasized the need for the world-wide nuclear community to cooperate further and exchange the results of research in this field in the most open and effective manner. Recognizing the roles of heat and mass transfer in all aspects of fission-product behavior in sever reactor accidents, the Executive Committee of the International Centre for Heat and Mass Transfer organized a Seminar on Fission Product Transport Processes in Reactor Accidents. This book contains the eleven of the lectures and all the papers presented at the seminar along with four invited papers that were not presented and a summary of the closing session.

Case Studies in Disaster Mitigation and Prevention: Disaster and Emergency Management: Case Studies in Adaptation and Innovation series presents cases illustrating efforts to reduce human and material losses associated with disasters. This volume demonstrates that mitigation is an ongoing phase in which communities continually pursue long-term hazard resistance and reduction. Cases illustrate the importance of risk assessment in the development of mitigation strategies through hazard mapping and multi-hazard mitigation planning. Cases also illustrate approaches to reduction risk through structural and non-structural means, giving consideration to benefits or limitations of these strategies in different contexts. The contributions of different mitigation activities to disaster risk reduction efforts are examined using the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.