In Toxic Matters, Monica Seger considers two Italian environmental disasters: an isolated factory explosion in Seveso, just north of Milan, in 1976 and the ongoing daily toxic emissions from the Ilva steelworks in the Apulian city of Taranto. Both have exposed residents to high concentrations of the persistent organic pollutant known as dioxin. Although different in terms of geography and temporality, Seveso and Taranto are deeply united by this nearly imperceptible substance, and by the representational complexities it poses. They are also united by creative narrative expressions, in literary, cinematic, and other forms, that push back against dominant contexts and representations perpetuated by state and industrial actors.Seger traces a dialogue between Seveso and Taranto, exploring an interplay between bodies, soil, industrial emissions, and the wealth of dynamic particulate matter that passes in between. At the same time, she emphasizes the crucial function of narrative expression for making sense of this modern-day reality and for shifting existing power dynamics as exposed communities exercise their voices. While Toxic Matters, is grounded in Italian cases and texts, it looks outward to the pressing questions of toxicity, embodiment, and storytelling faced by communities worldwide.

Sociology has developed theories of social change in the fields of evolution, conflict and modernization, viewing modern society as essentially unstable and conflict driven. However, it has not seriously studied catastrophe. A Theory of Catastrophe develops a sociology of catastrophes, comparing natural, social and political causes and consequences, and the social theories that might offer explanations. A catastrophe is a general and systematic breakdown of social and political institutions resulting, among other things, in what we could call a catastrophe consciousness. The Greek ‘cata-strophe’ formed the conclusion to a dramatic sequence of strophes. The cata-strophe was the final act of a drama, namely its denouement. Catastrophic denouements are without hope: genocides, military occupations, plagues, famines and earthquakes. A Theory of Catastrophe analyzes Pompeii, the Black Death, colonial genocide in North America, WWI and the Spanish Flu, and Nazi Germany and finally this century: terrorism, new wars, climate change and pandemics. As a study of sociological theory, Bryan Turner discusses Spengler’s Decline of the West, Marxism as a theory of catastrophic capitalism, messianic movements, Weber on modernity, and risk society. He concludes by comparing optimism and pessimism, and the idea of inter-generational justice.

This book gathers and disseminates opinions, viewpoints, studies, forecasts, and practical projects which illustrate the various pathways sustainability research and practice may follow in the future, as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and prepares itself to the possibilities of having to cope with similar crisis, a product of the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme (IUSDRP) https://www.haw-hamburg.de/en/ftz-nk/programmes/iusdrp.html and the European School of Sustainability Science and Research (ESSSR) https://esssr.eu/. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to severe human suffering, and to substantial damages to economies around the globe, affecting both rich countries and developing ones. The aftermath of the epidemic is also expected to be felt for sometime. This will also include a wide range of impacts in the ways sustainable development is perceived, and how the principles of sustainability are practised. There is now a pressing need to generate new literature on the connections between COVID-19 and sustainability. This is so for two main reasons. Firstly, the world crisis triggered by COVID-19 has severely damaged the world economy, worsening poverty, causing hardships, and endangering livelihoods. Together, these impacts may negatively influence the implementation of sustainable development as a whole, and of the UN Sustainable Development Goals in particular. These potential and expected impacts need to be better understood and quantified, hence providing a support basis for future recovery efforts. Secondly, the shutdown caused by COVID-19 has also been having a severe impact on teaching and research, especially -but not only - on matters related to sustainability. This may also open new opportunities (e.g. less travel, more Internet-based learning), which should be explored further, especially in the case of future pandemics, a scenario which cannot be excluded. The book meets these perceived needs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has spread across the world and left turmoil in every facet of society in its wake. As in-person activities came to an end for public safety, businesses closed, classrooms scrambled to transition online, and society was forever changed. As the pandemic comes to a close, it is essential that researchers take this opportunity to study the changes that have occurred so that society may revive what has been lost and promote resilience should another crisis arise. Societal Transformations and Resilience in Times of Crisis focuses on the revival of societal institutions after events such as natural disasters, pandemics, political turmoil, and global crises, and looks toward building more resilient structures. It contributes novel approaches and provides implications for countries to improve the social system through novel approaches. Covering topics such as employee psychological distress, democracy, and higher education institutions, this premier reference source is a dynamic resource for government officials, community leaders, non-governmental organizations, students and faculty of higher education, sociologists, business executives and managers, human resource managers, researchers, and academicians.

As "natural" disasters increase in frequency and scale, the cost of humanitarian assistance elbows development budgets aside. Catastrophes force aid agencies to look for immediate relief for the victims of apparently no-fault natural disasters. But how far is it possible to view such disasters as natural? This text argues that we allow ourselves to ignore the political dimensions of humanitarian aid and disaster relief, which operate as part of a far wider global battle for resources and markets. It highlights the links between disaster, aid, development and relief, placing case studies in the context of the globalization of the economy, the "free" market ideology of the industrialized nations, the rapacity of financial short-termism and the rise of new forms of colonialism.;The book examines seven recent and, in some cases, continuing major disasters, and analyzes the political agendas that can be said to be common to all these disasters. It then puts forward a political framework for humanitarian aid, reviewing the possible consequences, the political issues to be addressed and possible ways forward.

A crisis is a period of uncertainty that may or may not lead to disaster, depending in part on the capacity of actors to make sense of what is happening and respond effectively. Disasters in different spheres occur and recur at different speeds and in idiosyncratic ways, but in essence they follow the same pattern. In the wake of the Global Financial Crisis and Eurozone upheavals this timely book argues that the disaster cycle - a framework normally used in the context of natural disasters - is equally applicable to the analysis of other types of catastrophe.Employing a modified version of the disaster cycle framework to compare and analyse a range of catastrophes in different spheres, the author draws on ideas from a variety of disciplines including economics and economic history, disaster studies, management, and political science. This unique comparative approach presents case studies of several important disasters: Hurricane Katrina, the First World War, the depression of the early 1930s, Welsh coal mining accidents, the deadly effects of smoking tobacco, and the Global Financial Crisis and Eurozone catastrophe of the early twenty first century. The author argues that economists and economic policy makers routinely misuse the term crisis to describe episodes that ought to be called disasters. This accessible and fascinating exploration will appeal to students and scholars in economic history, disaster studies, management, public policy, and related disciplines. The comparison of crisis and disaster management is also essential reading for policy makers.

Did 9/11 revive a North American guns-butter trade-off? Established in the largest administrative overhaul since World War II, the Department of Homeland Security was charged with keeping the United States safe within a wider security community, but confronted the Washington Consensus-based Western Hemisphere free trade movement, beginning with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and extending to the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in 2003, to materialize a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) compact. Whether 9/11 restrictions impeded these trade-related thrusts or not, embracing neoliberalism permitted Canada and Mexico to pursue their own initiatives, such as proposing free-trade to the US--Canada in 1985, Mexico in 1990, but, as during the Cold War, security imperatives ultimately prevailed.

This work investigates Canada's and Mexico's Department of Homeland Security responses through three bilateral studies of policy responses along comparative lines, case studies of security and intelligence apparatuses in each of the three countries, and a post-9/11 trilateral assessment. Ultimately, they raise a broader and more critical North American question: Will regional economic integration continue to be trumped by security considerations, as during the Cold War era, and thereby elevate second-best outcomes, or rise above the constraints to reassert the unquenchable post-Cold War thirst for unfettered markets replete with private enterprises, liberal policies, and full-fledged competitiveness?

A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the sudden displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions (including detonations of underwater nuclear devices), landslides, glacier calving, meteorite impacts and other disturbances above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami. These waves are very different from normal sea waves, because their wavelength is far longer. Large events can generate wave heights of tens of metres and therefore, although the main impact of tsunamis is to coastal areas, their potential destructive power is enormous and they can affect entire ocean basins; the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was among the deadliest natural disasters in human history with over 230,000 people killed in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean. Tsunami: from fundamentals to mitigation comprises seven chapters, dealing with the different aspects of the field. The first chapter deals with the different types of tsunami and their historical data. Chapter 2 describes an inverse type solution to find a posteriori of the tsunami waveform.One of the main problems with tsunamis, described in Chapter 3, is how to assess the flooding they produce. Chapter 4 deals with the very important topic of Early Warning Systems. Chapter 5 not only studies the behaviour of RC buildings under the 2011 Japanese Tsunami but puts forward a series of recommendations. One of the most damaging aspects of Tsunamis is the damage to infrastructure and building systems. Chapter 6 discusses this along with providing guideline measures to take in the future. Finally Chapter 7 studies the important problem of health and related issues due to tsunami disasters.