The Culture of Calamity: Disaster and the Making of Modern America [Hardcover]

Kevin Rozario (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226725707 | ISBN-13: 978-0226725703 | Publication Date: August 15, 2007 | Edition: First

Turn on the news and it looks as if we live in a time and place unusually consumed by the specter of disaster. The events of 9/11 and the promise of future attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the destruction of New Orleans, and the inevitable consequences of environmental devastation all contribute to an atmosphere of imminent doom. But reading an account of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, with its vivid evocation of buildings “crumbling as one might crush a biscuit,” we see that calamities—whether natural or man-made—have long had an impact on the American consciousness.

Uncovering the history of Americans’ responses to disaster from their colonial past up to the present, Kevin Rozario reveals the vital role that calamity—and our abiding fascination with it—has played in the development of this nation. Beginning with the Puritan view of disaster as God’s instrument of correction, Rozario explores how catastrophic events frequently inspired positive reactions. He argues that they have shaped American life by providing an opportunity to take stock of our values and social institutions. Destruction leads naturally to rebuilding, and here we learn that disasters have been a boon to capitalism, and, paradoxically, indispensable to the construction of dominant American ideas of progress.

As Rozario turns to the present, he finds that the impulse to respond creatively to disasters is mitigated by a mania for security. Terror alerts and duct tape represent the cynical politician’s attitude about 9/11, but Rozario focuses on how the attacks registered in the popular imagination—how responses to genuine calamity were mediated by the hyperreal thrills of movies; how apocalyptic literature, like the best-selling Left Behind series, recycles Puritan religious outlooks while adopting Hollywood’s style; and how the convergence of these two ways of imagining disaster points to a new postmodern culture of calamity. The Culture of Calamity will stand as the definitive diagnosis of the peculiarly American addiction to the spectacle of destruction.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Broad in its historical sweep, sharp and pointed in its insights, this is academic writing at its spirited and relevant best."—Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune

(Julia Keller Chicago Tribune )

"This interesting, complex examinaiton on how catastrophes have shaped the development of this country is recommended for all libraries."

(Library Journal )

"The timeliest and most pertinent of books: a fascinating but far from cheerful read."

(Lucy Moore Telegraph Review )

"[A] superb work of cultural history."

(Saturday Guardian )

"Rozario stakes out new ground, asking important questions about the underlying meaning of calamity and challenging the view that postwar disaster management was simply the foreordained result of rational deliberation. His efforts to tie calamity to capital accumulation are suggestive, and the book as a whole is an important addition to the historiography."—Ted Steinberg, Journal of American History

(Ted Steinberg Journal of American History )

"This is a very exciting text that shows the potential cultural sociology possesses for the purposes of illuminating the changing forms of disaster consciousness."

(Frank Furedi Cultural Sociology )

About the Author

Kevin Rozario is associate professor in the American Studies program at Smith College.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 324 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; First edition (August 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226725707
• ISBN-13: 978-0226725703
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #403,390 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Modern America: Disaster In The Making?, March 4, 2008

By 

David F. Mcginnis (Key West FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Culture of Calamity: Disaster and the Making of Modern America (Hardcover)

This is re-drafting of Dr Rozario's PhD thesis, he tells us. As such it strives to be complete and there is more here than I expected. In fact it is subversive. Cool!

The author draws a line that seems unlikely at first. He tracks the growth of our emergency management system from the colonial days through the San Francisco earthquake and fire, to 9-11 and Katrina. An important stop along the way is the period immediately after WWII when our civil defense requirements suddenly mushroomed, heh.

He shows that with each disaster, new powers were assumed by the central government. At first, state authorities were reluctant even to accept federal assistance because of the strings attached. Sometimes they had good reason, just look at the 1927 flood: In the delta region they were conscripting black labor and keeping them on the levees at gunpoint. Who wants government agents poking around in situations like that?

Gradually the national government has taken over disaster planning. A big part of it stems from the civil defense requirements first of the cold war and now of the war on terror. with these responsibilities has come authority. The president has the power to declare an emergency, suspend the government and rule by executive authority. He has the apparatus in the Dept of Homeland Security and the Patriot Act, etc.

In other words we have sacrificed a great deal of our freedom for the sake of security. Unfortunately, 9-11 and Katrina showed that this security is sort of thin and not to be relied upon. Katrina gave the impression that there were too few lifeboats and the people in charge didn't know what they're doing -- New Orleans struck an iceberg and went down like the Titanic.

Past disasters have paved the way for this fiasco and future disasters will probably make it worse. In other words I am now a believer in Dr Rozario's thesis. He has shown us a new way of looking at these things.

Which, he proves, is also a national pasttime. We love to watch disasters so long as we are safe personally. The 24/7 news coverage now in place makes it all so easy. We can even watch our army go to war live and in color. When a hurricane hits someplace we can be certain that Jim Cantore will be there! And we do watch, we can't help it.

You can see why I say there is more to this book than I expected. I witheld a 5th star because it could have used some tables and graphs and some maps. I no longer have the book so I cannot check the acknowledgements to see who supported his research. Probably it was departmental funds from within the university where he was getting his degree. I doubt that money originated in the Dept of Defense or DHS!