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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social issues > Social impact of disasters
Two years after Hurricane Maria hit, Puerto Ricans are still
reeling from its effects and aftereffects. Aftershocks collects
poems, essays and photos from survivors of Hurricane Maria
detailing their determination to persevere. The concept of
"aftershocks" is used in the context of earthquakes to describe the
jolts felt after the initial quake, but no disaster is a singular
event. Aftershocks of Disaster examines the lasting effects of
hurricane Maria, not just the effects of the wind or the rain, but
delving into what followed: state failure, social abandonment,
capitalization on human misery, and the collective trauma produced
by the botched response.
The contemporary world is characterized by the massive use of
digital communication platforms and services that allow people to
stay in touch with each other and their organizations. On the other
hand, it is also a world with great challenges in terms of crisis,
disaster, and emergency situations of various kinds. Thus, it is
crucial to understand the role of digital platforms/services in the
context of crisis, disaster, and emergency situations. Digital
Services in Crisis, Disaster, and Emergency Situations presents
recent studies on crisis, disaster, and emergency situations in
which digital technologies are considered as a key mediator.
Featuring multi- and interdisciplinary research findings, this
comprehensive reference work highlights the relevance of society's
digitization and its usefulness and contribution to the different
phases and types of risk scenarios. Thus, the book investigates the
design of digital services that are specifically developed for use
in crisis situations and examines services such as online social
networks that can be used for communication purposes in emergency
events. Highlighting themes that include crisis management
communication, risk monitoring, digital crisis intervention, and
smartphone applications, this book is of particular use to
governments, institutions, corporations, and professionals who deal
with crisis, disaster, and emergency scenarios, as well as
researchers, academicians, and students working in fields such as
communications, multimedia, sociology, political science, and
engineering.
Renowned Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben collects all of his
fierce, passionate, and deeply personal interventions regarding the
2020 health emergency as it played out in Italy and across the
world. Alongside and beyond accusations, these texts variously
reflect upon the great transformation affecting Western
democracies. In the name of biosecurity and health, the model of
bourgeois democracy-together with its rights, parliaments, and
constitutions-is everywhere surrendering to a new despotism where
citizens seem to accept unprecedented limitations to their
freedoms. This leads to the urgency of the volume's title: Where
Are We Now? For how long will we accept living in a constantly
extended state of exception, the end of which remains impossible to
see?
In this age of uncertainty, there is the need for ideas that
transcend the limitations of party political, or left/right
thinking, in resolving the unprecedented problems of our time.
Technological Civilisation is here presented as a focal point for a
fresh perspective of both national and international issues. The
tensions between America and China indicate the possibility of a
new Cold War, and this would be disastrous for the planet in
diverting attention away from the cooperation needed in attending
to climate change and other threats to the environment. In the
countries of the West, democracy as we know it is beginning to
disintegrate. This is made evident through the collapse of voting
figures and party memberships, as well as a spirit of disillusion.
There are some topics which politicians are loathed to address, and
in the sphere of the approaching environmental crisis, the
population explosion is the most prominent. Leading scientists have
clearly demonstrated, that even if all efforts are put towards
reversing climate change through maximising renewable energy
sources, unless population control is achieved on a sufficient
level, all will be in vain. The population question is probably
pushed ahead to a greater degree in this book than will be found
elsewhere as a topic for public debate. In concentrating on
Technological Civilisation, it is possible to discern the
inter-connection of problems, and this leads to constructive
proposals for the regeneration of democracy, the reform of the
financial-industrial system, and the emergence of an upwardly
mobile and free egalitarian society.
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