8. Disasters

Question 1

What is the shock doctrine?

Answer 1

1. Idea of disaster keeps society under control
2. People believe risk is real, as disasters do happen
3. Kline: keeping people in fear is in their best interests as it ensures they follow orders
4. Play-off between realist view of risk and social view

Question 2

What is the meaning of the term ‘disaster’?

Answer 2

1. Natural or man-made
2. Something harmful from the outside (burton + Case, 1964)
3. Beyond society’s capacity to cope
4. Increasing in frequency as nature becomes more volatile
5. Easily blamed on climate change with little consideration for our ability to cope, which should be high today

Question 3

What is the UN ISDR?

Answer 3

1. International strategy for Disaster Reduction
2. Criteria for an event to be a disaster decided by them
3. 10+ dead 4. 100+ affected
4. Government declares state of emergency
5. Government asks for international help

Question 4

How do disasters allow research into behaviour?

Answer 4

1. Research on panic, demoralisation and civil unrest post-WWII
2. Carried out by National Opinion Research Centre and Disaster Researcher Centre in 1963, useful for security purposes
3. Disaster research centre focused on positive consensus behaviour rather than finding dissensus ie. riots

Question 5

Who was Gilbert White?

Answer 5

1. In the 1970s, questioned why only certain precautions are taken to prevent social loss were used
2. Increased emphasis on politics and economics
3. Devised list of adjustments to mitigate disasters:
   - Land use planning and development regulations
   - Mitigate impact with building codes
   - Property insurance
   - Preparedness
   - Institutional measures: response, recovery, reconstruction
4. Claimed society prevents response to environmental extremes, causing disasters
5. Opposing position: realist - disasters are individual, detached events

Question 6

Describe the social constructivist view of disasters.

Answer 6

1. Events can only be disasters if humans are affected
2. Self-inflected by lack of planning
3. Declared at crucial social and political moments eg. elections
4. Disaster gerrymandering - politicians declare unnecessary disasters to allow certain responses
5. Disaster denialism - qualifying disasters eg. heatwaves not declared due to lack of obvious impact

Question 7

What are the elements that make up a disaster?

Answer 7

1. Exposure to hazard
2. Vulnerability to hazard
3. Combine to create disaster

Question 8

Historically, how has blame been distributed during disasters?

Answer 8

1. Until the 1750s, in the West, supernatural or religious and related to punishment eg. The Great Storm (UK) of 1703 explained by religion and politics as Protestants more affected
2. 1750s onwards, secular view of course of nature, but doesn’t explain everything. Church blamed people . eg. Lisbon earthquake, 1755
3. 1850s to modern day, natural events and social issues eg. Johnstown
4. Today, disasters are naturalised to avoid blame

Question 9

Describe the Johnstown disaster.

Answer 9

1. Shows socially constructed disaster
2. Pennsylvania town wanted to build resort, so built dam for the lake
3. 1889 heavy rain blocked outlets so dam broke
4. People knew this might happen but ignored it and 2209 died
5. Caused by lack of maintenance but court ruled Act of God
6. Inaction leads to disaster

Question 10

What are the triggers of vulnerability?

Answer 10

1. Demographics
2. Poor building codes and infrastructure
3. Poor land use
4. No preparation/information
5. Poor warning tools and communications
6. Accessibility and location
7. Local economic consequences

Question 11

What is the disaster cycle?

Answer 11

Question 12

Describe the recreancy approach to disasters.

Answer 12

1. Our world is increasingly an interdependent place
2. This created vulnerability, because interdependent systems eg. flight control are unpredictable when they go wrong.

Question 13

How has the conflict in Darfur been described as a disaster?

Answer 13

1. Some, incl. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, have suggested the conflict in Darfur has origins in a climate issue
2. Others, eg. academics have argued this is shifting blame from those who contributed
3. it is a complex problem with many explanaitons
   - Historical grievances
   - Local perceptions of race
   - Demands for fair power chare between groups
   - Inequitable sharing of economic resources and benefits
   - Dispute over access to and control over scarce natural resources
   - Proliferation of arms and militerisaiton of young people
   - No democracy
4. Similar arguments have occured over Syria