At Risk: Natural Hazards, People's Vulnerability and Disasters [Textbook Binding]

Piers Blaikie (Author), Terry Cannon (Author), Ian Davis (Author), Ben Wisner (Author), T. Cannon (Author), I. Davis (Author), B. Wisner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 1994 | ISBN-10: 0415084776 | ISBN-13: 978-0415084772 | Edition: 1

At Risk reasserts the significance of the human factor in disasters. Establishing that the social, political and economic environment is as much a cause of disasters as the natural environment, the book argues that disaster mitigation is rooted in the potential humans have to understand their vulnerability and to take common action.
Famines and drought, biological hazards, floods, coastal storms, earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides: At Risk draws practical and policy conclusions with a view to disaster reduction and the promotion of a safer environment.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a fine example of the political economic paradigm in hazards research..." -- Growth and Change --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Piers Blaikie is Professor in the School of Development Studies at the University of East Anglia. Terry Cannon is Senior Lecturer in Development Studies at the University of Greenwich. Ian Davis is Managing Director of the Oxford Centre for Disaster Studies. Ben Wisner is Professor at the School of Social Science, Hampshire College. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Textbook Binding: 320 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (July 31, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415084776
• ISBN-13: 978-0415084772
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #964,946 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A short review of "At risk : natural hazards", August 8, 2004

By 

Pieter van Gelder (Delft, NL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: At Risk: Natural Hazards, People's Vulnerability and Disasters (Hardcover)

The four authors of "At Risk, natural hazards, people's vulnerability, and disasters" (three from the UK, one from USA, active in the field of social and development studies) claim that natural disasters are not only caused by the natural environment, but also (or maybe even more) by the social, political and economic environment. It is shown throughout the book when they concentrate on the various hazard types: floods, coastal storms, earthquakes, landslides, vulcanoes, biological hazards and famine. They consistently use a flow diagram describing the framework of the root causes, dynamic pressures, unsafe conditions (on the one side), the hazard (on the other side), and the disaster (in the middle).

The book describes 12 principles towards a safer environment. It cannot be made by technical measures alone. It should address the root causes by challeging any ideology, political or economic system which causes or increases vulnerability. It should reduce pressures by developing by macro forces such as urbanisation, re-afforestation, a.o. It should achieve safe conditions by protected environment, resilient local economy and public actions, such as disaster preparedness. Together with technical measures to reduce certain hazards (such as flood defences, shelter breaks, etc), it should all lead to a substantial reduction in disaster risk.

The book illustrates natural hazards from a social studies point of view, with striking observations, such as the bureaucratic blindness and biased relief assistance in South Carolina following hurricane Hugo in 1989 to the needs of many African Americans who lacked insurance and other support systems. The huge North Vietnam floods in 1971 only resulted in a few hundred deaths, largely because of a highly efficient wartime village-level organisation that allowed rapid evacuation and provision of first aid, whereas the similar 1970 Bangladesh floods killed a record 300,000 people.