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.

Hazard Mitigation in Emergency Management introduces readers to mitigation, one of the four foundational phases of emergency management, and to the hazard mitigation planning process. Authors Islam and Ryan review the hazard mitigation framework in both private sector and governmental agencies, covering the regulatory and legal frameworks for mitigation, as well as risk assessment processes and strategies, and tools and techniques that can prevent, or lessen, the impact of disasters. The book specifically addresses hazards posed by human activity, including cyber threats and nuclear accidents, as well as hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. Readers will learn about the framework for the mitigation process, hazard identification, risk assessment, and the tools and techniques available for mitigation. Coverage includes both GIS and HAZUS, with tutorials on these technologies, as well as case studies of best practices in the United States and around the world. The text is ideal for students, instructors, and practitioners interested in reducing, or eliminating, the effects of disasters.

Fills a hole at the academic level, where budding administrators are rarely exposed to the demands and nuance of effectively responding to crises. Combines theory with practical, relevant, case studies to offer a comprehensive and effective approach to understanding methods in disaster management and response. When combined, collaboration and crisis management are fields that are still under studied, and the addition of content on the Covid-19 pandemic brings the book right up to date. Applicable to both academic and professional markets in the US, with the potential for international use Two very experienced and well regarded names, who are able to effectively combine their professional and academic expertise.

Fills a hole at the academic level, where budding administrators are rarely exposed to the demands and nuance of effectively responding to crises. Combines theory with practical, relevant, case studies to offer a comprehensive and effective approach to understanding methods in disaster management and response. When combined, collaboration and crisis management are fields that are still under studied, and the addition of content on the Covid-19 pandemic brings the book right up to date. Applicable to both academic and professional markets in the US, with the potential for international use Two very experienced and well regarded names, who are able to effectively combine their professional and academic expertise.

What is the role of folklore in the discussion of catastrophe and trauma? How do disaster survivors use language, ritual, and the material world to articulate their experiences? What insights and tools can the field of folkloristics offer survivors for navigating and narrating disaster and its aftermath? Can folklorists contribute to broader understandings of empathy and the roles of listening in ethnographic work? We Are All Survivors is a collection of essays exploring the role of folklore in the wake of disaster. Contributors include scholars from the United States and Japan who have long worked with disaster-stricken communities or are disaster survivors themselves; individual chapters address Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Maria, and two earthquakes in Japan, including the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster of 2011. Adapted from a 2017 special issue of Fabula (from the International Society for Folk Narrative Research), the book includes a revised introduction, an additional chapter with original illustrations, and a new conclusion considering how folklorists are documenting the COVID-19 pandemic. We Are All Survivors bears witness to survivors' expressions of remembrance, grieving, and healing.

What is the role of folklore in the discussion of catastrophe and trauma? How do disaster survivors use language, ritual, and the material world to articulate their experiences? What insights and tools can the field of folkloristics offer survivors for navigating and narrating disaster and its aftermath? Can folklorists contribute to broader understandings of empathy and the roles of listening in ethnographic work? We Are All Survivors is a collection of essays exploring the role of folklore in the wake of disaster. Contributors include scholars from the United States and Japan who have long worked with disaster-stricken communities or are disaster survivors themselves; individual chapters address Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Maria, and two earthquakes in Japan, including the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster of 2011. Adapted from a 2017 special issue of Fabula (from the International Society for Folk Narrative Research), the book includes a revised introduction, an additional chapter with original illustrations, and a new conclusion considering how folklorists are documenting the COVID-19 pandemic. We Are All Survivors bears witness to survivors' expressions of remembrance, grieving, and healing.

Post-disaster housing concerns and dilemmas are complex, global in nature, and are inextricably intertwined with social, economic, and political considerations. The multi-faceted nature of housing recovery requires a holistic approach that accounts for its numerous dimensions and contours that are best captured with multi-disciplinary, multi-scalar, and multi-hazard approaches. This book serves as a valuable resource by highlighting the key issues and challenges that need to be addressed with regard to post-disaster housing. By featuring a collection of case studies on various disasters that have occurred globally and written by scholars and practitioners from various disciplines, it highlights the rich diversity of approaches taken to solve post-disaster housing problems. Coming home after Disaster can serve as an essential reference for researchers and practitioners in disaster and emergency management, public administration, public policy, urban planning, sociology, anthropology, geography, economics, architecture, and other related social science fields. Key features in this book are: Addresses a wide range of dilemmas such as differential levels of social and physical vulnerability; problems related to land tenure, home-ownership, property rights, planning, and zoning; and political and legal challenges to housing recovery. Discusses the role played by public, private and non-governmental organizations, the informal sector, financial institutions, and insurance in rebuilding and housing recovery. Features global case studies, incorporates relevant examples and policies, and offers solutions from a range of scholars working in multiple disciplines and different countries.

This book analyzes the impact of the Fukushima disaster on civil society in Japan with particular attention to the anti-nuclear movement, focusing on its development, repertoire of action, mobilization strategies, modes of operation, and impact on the state's energy policy. Combining social movement theory and civil society theory, the author draws on extensive fieldwork in Japan to explore the context of the sociopolitical situation in Japan up to the Fukushima accident and to offer a typological description and analysis of the anti-nuclear movement that emerged after the disaster. Through an analysis of the relationship between the power elite and the anti-nuclear movement organizations, this volume considers the influences exercised by the ruling elites on civil society and vice versa, thus assessing the effects of the anti-nuclear movement on the state policy and the society. A comprehensive account of the anti-nuclear movement in post-Fukushima Japan, embedded within a broader perspective of the movement's historical development, contemporary political structures, and opportunities, Fukushima and Civil Society will appeal to scholars of sociology and politics with an interest in social movements.

'If there is any "must read" book about COVID-19, this is, without a doubt, the one.' Peter Jay Hotez, MD, PhD, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine 'Drawing on his brilliant reporting from the front lines of the fight against COVID, Gupta has produced a book filled with hope and optimism that draws on the lessons of the recent past to give people a grounded sense of how to navigate the future.' Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Code Breaker Frontline Covid-19 health journalist, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has had insider access to the unfolding pandemic, including exclusive conversations with the world's top public health experts and behind-the-scenes scientists racing to find treatments and cures. And now he's sharing what he's learned in a book that will answer not only all our questions about what happened, but also about how our world will change in the years ahead, even once we're back to 'normal'. As the doctor who's been guiding us through the crisis with compassion, clarity, and well-earned wisdom, he gives you the unvarnished story behind the pandemic, including insights about the novel virus's behavior, and offers practical tools to ready ourselves for what lies ahead. He answers critical questions: Can we stamp out the virus for good (and if not, how do we live with it)? Should we put our parents in a nursing home? How do you decide when it's safe to go to a public pool or schedule elective surgery? What should Covid survivors know about protecting their future health? What if you become a long-hauler with chronic health challenges stemming? World War C will give you hope for the future along with real information that leaves you more resilient and secure. 'Part murder mystery, part practical how-to-survive guide, Dr Sanjay Gupta's World War C is a tour de force. In this riveting book, Sanjay divulges, as few others can, what you didn't hear about in the news during the pandemic, and equips us with the everyday tools to stay safe and chase life like never before.' Andy Slavitt, former senior advisor of COVID-19 response, Biden White House 'With his characteristic curiosity, compassion, and humility, combined with unparalleled talent as a master-storyteller, Dr Gupta presents the defining history of the greatest public health catastrophe of our lifetimes. This is a must-read for how we can emerge stronger as individuals and as a society.' Leana Wen, Washington Post contributing columnist, former Baltimore health commissioner and author of Lifelines

Disaster Theory: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Concepts and Causes offers the theoretical background needed to understand what disasters are and why they occur. Drawing on related disciplines, including sociology, risk theory, and seminal research on disasters and emergency management, Disaster Theory clearly lays out the conceptual framework of the emerging field of disaster studies. Tailored to the needs of advanced undergraduates and graduate students, this unique text also provides an ideal capstone for students who have already been introduced to the fundamentals of emergency management. Disaster Theory emphasizes the application of critical thinking in understanding disasters and their causes by synthesizing a wide range of information on theory and practice, including input from leading scholars in the field.

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and is freely available to read online. Crises pose an immediate risk to life, health, and the environment and require urgent action. The public's use of social media has important implications for contingency policies and practices. Social media have the potential for risk reduction and preventive interaction with the public. This book is about how different communicators - whether crisis managers, first responders, journalists, or private citizens and disaster victims - have used social media to communicate about risks and crises. It is also about how these very different actors can play a crucial role in mitigating or preventing crises. How can they use social media to strengthen their own and the public's awareness and understanding of crises when they unfold? How can they use social media to promote resilience during crises and the ability to deal with the after-effects? Chapters address such questions by presenting new research-based knowledge on social media use during different crises: the terrorist attacks in Norway on 22 July 2011; the central European floods in Austria in 2013; and the West African Ebola-outbreak in 2014. The collection also presents research on the development of a tool for gathering social media information, based on a user-centered design. Social Media use in Crisis and Risk Communication presents cutting-edge research on the use of social media in crisis communication and reporting. It gives recommendations about how different crisis communicators (information officers, crisis managers, journalists) can improve their ability to gather information, communicate and raise people's crisis awareness by using social media.

'This book will stay with me for years.' - Adam Kay, author of This Is Going to Hurt What happens to pregnant women when a humanitarian catastrophe strikes? Belly Woman shines a light on a story often left untold. May, 2014. Sierra Leone is ranked the country with the highest death rate of pregnant women in the world. The same month, Ebola crosses in from neighbouring Guinea. Arriving a few weeks later, Dr Benjamin Black finds himself at the centre of an exponential Ebola outbreak. From impossible decisions on the maternity ward to moral dilemmas at the Ebola Treatment Centres. One mistake, one error of judgment, could spell disaster. An eye-opening work of reportage and advocacy, Belly Woman chronicles the inside journey through an unfolding global health crisis and the struggle to save the lives of young mothers. As Black reckons with the demons of the past, he must try to learn the lessons for a different, more resilient, future. 'A must-read for our times - riveting, illuminating and humbling.' - Aminatta Forna, author of The Memory of Love and The Devil That Danced on the Water

The Grenfell Tower fire of June 2017 is one of the most tragic political events in British history. This book argues that preparedness for disasters has always been designed in the interests of the State and Capital rather than citizens. This was exemplified by the 'stay put' strategy at Grenfell Tower which has historically been used to socially control racialised working class groups in a disaster. 'Stay put', where fire safety is compromised along with strategic ambiguity, probabilistically eliminates these groups. Grenfell Tower is a purposive part of 'Disaster Capitalism', an asocial racial and class eliminationism, where populations have become unvalorisable and disposable. We have reached a point where even the ruling class are fleeing from the disasters and chaos they have inflicted on the world, retreating to their billionaire bunkers. This timely book will be of interest to sociologists, social theorists and activists in understanding the racialised, classed and capitalist nature of contemporary disasters.

Examines the phenomenon of epidemics and hazards, explaining that they are often multi-hazard Provides public leaders with various considerations to meet the challenge of managing the complexity of various threat vectors Details universal terms and definitions-e.g., disaster, risk, and epidemic-using diagrams, illustrations, and analogies to clearly explain critical concepts Presents epidemic risk reduction strategies-based on the lead role that disaster, emergency management, and state/civil authorities need to play-focusing primarily on individual health and security

Examines the phenomenon of epidemics and hazards, explaining that they are often multi-hazard Provides public leaders with various considerations to meet the challenge of managing the complexity of various threat vectors Details universal terms and definitions-e.g., disaster, risk, and epidemic-using diagrams, illustrations, and analogies to clearly explain critical concepts Presents epidemic risk reduction strategies-based on the lead role that disaster, emergency management, and state/civil authorities need to play-focusing primarily on individual health and security

A consistent problem that confronts disaster reduction is the disjunction between academic and expert knowledge and policies and practices of agencies mandated to deal with the concern. Although a great deal of knowledge has been acquired regarding many aspects of disasters, such as driving factors, risk construction, complexity of resettlement, and importance of peoples' culture, very little has become protocol and procedure. Disaster Upon Disaster illuminates the numerous disjunctions between the suppositions, realities, agendas, and executions in the field, goes on to detail contingencies, predicaments, old and new plights, and finally advances solutions toward greatly improved outcomes.

This book examines the issue of disaster recovery in relation to community wellbeing and resilience, exploring the social, political, demographic and environmental changes in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster. The contributors reflect on the Fukushima disaster of earthquake, tsunami and radiation contamination and its impacts on society from an interdisciplinary perspective of the social sciences, critical public health, and the humanities. It focuses on four aspects, which form the sections of the work: Living with Risk and Uncertainty Vulnerability and Inequality Community Action, Engagement and Wellbeing Notes from the Field The first three sections present research on the long-term consequences of the disaster on community health and wellbeing. These findings are enhanced and developed in the 'Notes from the Field' section where local practitioners from medicine and community recovery reflect on their experiences in relation to concepts developed in the previous sections. This work significantly extends the literature on long-term wellbeing following disaster. The case study of Fukushima is a multi-faceted process that illuminates wider issues around post-disaster regeneration in Fukushima. This problem takes on new importance in the context of Covid-19, including direct parallels in the issues of risk measurement, social inequality, and wider wellbeing impacts, which public health disciplines can draw from.

'Commendable - a book that prepares us to think about and react to system failures' - Peter Gelderloos Anarchists have been central in helping communities ravaged by disasters, stepping in when governments wash their hands of the victims. Looking at Hurricane Sandy, Covid-19, and the social movements that mobilised relief in their wake, Disaster Anarchy is an inspiring and alarming book about collective solidarity in an increasingly dangerous world. As climate change and neoliberalism converge, mutual aid networks, grassroots direct action, occupations and brigades have sprung up in response to this crisis with considerable success. Occupy Sandy was widely acknowledged to have organised relief more effectively than federal agencies or NGOs, and following Covid-19 the term 'mutual aid' entered common parlance. However, anarchist-inspired relief has not gone unnoticed by government agencies. Their responses include surveillance, co-option, extending at times to violent repression involving police brutality. Arguing that disaster anarchy is one of the most important political phenomena to emerge in the twenty-first century, Rhiannon Firth shows through her research on and within these movements that anarchist theory and practice is needed to protect ourselves from the disasters of our unequal and destructive economic system.

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.

Human history is periodically punctuated by natural disasters, from Vesuvius' eruption to the modern-day COVID-19 pandemic. Volcanoes have buried entire cities, earthquakes have reduced structures to smoldering ruins. Floods and cyclones have wreaked havoc on river valleys and coastlines, and desertification and climate change have weakened society's underpinnings. Death tolls are often escalated by starvation and illness, which frequently occur in tandem. This second edition assesses natural disasters on human society and the effect of strategies developed to reduce their impact. This book addresses the interconnectivity of disaster and human responsibility through 23 updated case studies, including a new chapter on the 2011 Tohoku tsunami and the ensuing Fukushima nuclear disaster.

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.

Many communities in the United States have been abandoned by the state. What happens when natural disasters add to their misery? This book looks at the broken relationship between the federal government and civil society in times of crises. Mutual aid has gained renewed importance in providing relief when hurricanes, floods and pandemics hit, as cuts to state spending put significant strain on communities struggling to survive. Harking back to the self-organised welfare programmes of the Black Panther Party, radical social movements from Occupy to Black Lives Matter are building autonomous aid networks within and against the state. However, as the federal responsibility for relief is lifted, mutual aid faces a profound dilemma: do ordinary people become complicit in their own exploitation? Reframing disaster relief through the lens of social reproduction, Peer Illner tracks the shifts in American emergency aid, from the economic crises of the 1970s to the Covid-19 pandemic, raising difficult questions about mutual aid's double-edged role in cuts to social spending. As sea levels rise, climate change worsens and new pandemics sweep the globe, Illner's analysis of the interrelations between the state, the market and grassroots initiatives will prove indispensable.

As the world grapples with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, on almost every news website, across social media, as well as in its (many) absences, leisure has taken on new significance in both managing and negotiating a global crisis. Leisure in the Time of Coronavirus: A Rapid Response, amidst the disruption, inconvenience, illness, fear, uncertainty, tragedy, and loss from COVID-19, generates discussions that enable leisure scholars to learn and to engage with wider debates about the crucial role of leisure in people's lives. The pandemic has brought tourism to a standstill with borders closed and travel restricted. From home (for those fortunate enough to have them), in physical isolation, and in attempts to socialize, at no time in recent memory has leisure seemed so vital, and yet also so hauntingly absent. Leisure, therefore, remains an important lens through which to view, question, and understand the world. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal, Leisure Sciences.