I have just finished the last essay of "Catastrophe & Culture: The Anthropology of Disaster", a collection that offers a deep and stimulating insight into the culture of disaster mechanisms. The collection is built upon a multifaceted and collaborative approach that brilliantly argues that "the conjunction of a human population and a potentially destructive agent does not inevitable produce a disaster" but that "a disaster becomes unavoidable in the context of a historically produced pattern of vulnerability."
Ironically, that last essay I had parked for a while was "Missing Expertise, Categorical Politics, and Chronic Disasters" by S. Ravi Rajan. Here, utilizing the Bhopal disaster as a case study, Rajan argues admirably about the harm that missing different types of expertise can do to prepare and respond to disasters, from contingent expertise that is ready to intervene immediately, to conceptual expertise to cover the broad range of needs of long-term rehabilitation strategies, and ethnographic expertise that refers to the ability to gain contextual and grounded understanding and the capacity to act on that understanding. And in filling modestly some of those gaps is precisely where it resonated with me strongly, as I aim that part my work, and the conversations supported by Disaster Bound can contribute in that direction.
For instance another favorite was "Punctuated Entropy as Culture-Induced Change" by Christopher L. Dyer. The research work done around the Exxon Valdez oil spill serves to develop a critical analysis of the structure of punctuated entropy, being " a permanent decline in the adaptive flexibility of a human cultural system to the environment brought on by the cumulative impact of periodic disaster events," and how it highlights the permanent change, damage and lessened ability to recuperate and sustain community based approaches to disaster resilience. It's an analysis that unfortunately rings all too relevant, and that is immediately applicable to much of the conditions that we are currently living through.
But there is much more besides these two examples, and the range of complex topics covered, from environmental impacts, to the influence of popular media or the perception of risk, make this a rich and fascinating volume. If there were a single shortcoming worth highlighting it might be the implicit premise that anthropology would occupy a higher ground from where to develop this critical analysis of the culture of catastrophe, which is uncomfortable since the book also argues and demonstrates so strongly the need for crossdisciplinary efforts. Since the book is crafted initially from that academic perspective the bias can be understood. Much of the extended discourse of the interoperability of academic disciplines falls short on actual enabling the broad understanding it pretends to offer. In fact, most schools offer varying interpretations of what constitutes social science, and for instance the scope studied for anthropology, sociology, or economy. And it is not uncommon to see representatives of these disciplines arguing the contrary: that a definitive and clear interpretation of how knowledge is organized is set. Luckily here, that bias does not preclude the essays to offer a broad, complex, and diverse scrutiny of many facets present in disaster analysis, which is of the essence for a comprehensive approach to the area.
In the end, considering the broad range of topics unveiled, the volume offers but an introduction into vast, complicated, and essential areas that unfortunately seem to be are barely acknowledged in the mainstream practice of disaster preparedness and response. And it is precisely for revealing so adeptly the solid interwoven mess of sociocultural elements embedded in catastrophe that I felt this collection is so important.
Add Prime
to get Fast, Free delivery
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Frequently bought together
This item: Catastrophe and Culture: The Anthropology of Disaster (School for Advanced Research Advanced Seminar Series)
$19.90
Get it as soon as Monday, Jan 6
Only 9 left in stock (more on the way).
+
$26.11
Get it as soon as Friday, Jan 3
In Stock
Total price: $00
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Customers who bought this item also bought
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
- Disasters: A Sociological ApproachPaperbackFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Friday, Jan 3
