Throughout history, societies have had to decide whom to "sacrifice" and whom to help in times of disaster. This volume examines how elite groups attempt to maintain power through the use of particular economic, political, and ideological instruments and how both ruling elites and common people endeavor to create meaningful traditions while enduring hardship.The Political Economy of Hazards and Disasters demonstrates how vulnerability is economically constructed, primary producers adapt their production regimes, how traders and merchants adapt their practices, and how political economic objectives play out in recovery efforts.

Latino populations are currently the fastest growing in the nation and Latinos comprise by far the largest percentage of new immigrants to the southern states. "Latino Workers in the Contemporary South" describes issues these immigrants and refugees face, particularly regarding work, and also offers accounts of the impact of Latinos on their employers and communities at large. Though its discussions span a variety of regions, the book focuses, in particular, on areas of Georgia and Florida where booming Hispanic populations have had considerable influence in recent years. It documents the different ways in which Latino immigrants in today's South have adapted to the ambiguous and frequently inaccessible territory of the South's notorious "good-ole-boy" network to navigate the world of work.

Contributors to the volume discuss legal and illegal migration, the problem of accurately tracking immigration, gender-specific issues, and language barriers, as well as adaptations made by immigrants in the face of hardships. Essays highlight specific areas that provide work opportunities to immigrants, such as the poultry industry of North Georgia, the carpet industry of Dalton, Georgia, and the onshore oil industry of southern Louisiana. The contributors also discuss the changing cultures of areas with large Hispanic populations and the mixture of hospitality and hostility encountered by these new southerners. "Latino Workers in the Contemporary South" offers a great deal of new information about Latino immigrants and the changing face of the South.

The sufferings of "ordinary" people under harsh economic conditions can eventually lead to the fall of governments. Given this fact, it becomes important to know how "ordinary" people live-what privations they suffer and what strategies they use to survive in times of economic crisis. The Mexican Urban Household provides this information for Mexico near the end of the twentieth century. Mexico is now a predominantly urban nation, and this study is the definitive work on the strategies of self-defense of its urban households. It is based on surveys of nearly 10,000 households, conducted during twenty years of field work in five very different cities, with the help of a staff of more than twenty Mexican social scientists, engineers, architects, and social workers. Far from being a compilation of undigested statistics, however, The Mexican Urban Household uses its rich data to vividly reveal how Mexican families use their every resource to defend themselves against a political and economic system that overwhelms and exploits them. It describes how families band together, sometimes with three generations in one small house, to minimize expenses and pool resources. It explores the limited range of available jobs, from secure but scarce bureaucratic positions to more common and less reliable jobs in blue-collar industries and the informal economy. And, most important, it traces the high cost to families, particularly to women, of the endless struggle to make ends meet. These important findings outline the dimensions of the economic crisis for ordinary Mexicans. It will be crucial reading not only for everyone interested in the future of Mexico but also for students of development throughout the Third World.

Co-published with the Society for Economic Anthropology, this work explores the social, political and economic contexts and consequences of economic interaction beyond the local systems. Because the focus of economic analysis is often local, particularly in anthropology, this book specifically aims analysis beyond the local system of economic interaction.