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Sociology

Selected Works

2015

Disaster

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

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Mindful Justice: The Search For Gandhi’S Sympathetic State After Bhopal, Nehal A. Patel Sep 2015

Mindful Justice: The Search For Gandhi’S Sympathetic State After Bhopal, Nehal A. Patel

Nehal A. Patel

One of the most startling examples of unmitigated disaster occurred in Bhopal, India, in 1984, when a Union Carbide pesticide plant exploded tons of methyl isocyanate into the air, killing 3800 people overnight. 30 years later, the plant site has not been remediated, and the estimated death toll from the explosion now has reached over 20,000. Disaster victims repeatedly have sought relief directly from the government. Yet, the Indian and US governments and Union Carbide have refused to provide the necessary resources for proper remediation. In this Article, I examine the state’s response to the Bhopal disaster using the thought …


Why Getting People To Write An Emergency Plan May Not Be The Best Approach, Neil Dufty Apr 2015

Why Getting People To Write An Emergency Plan May Not Be The Best Approach, Neil Dufty

Neil Dufty

Many government agencies and not-for-profit emergency organisations throughout the world encourage those community members and businesses at risk to write disaster survival or emergency plans. In Australia, community flood education and engagement programs such as FloodSafe promote the preparation of home and business emergency plans. In some cases, agencies use the writing of these plans as an indicator of community preparedness. There has been little research conducted into the efficacy of personal or business emergency plans, although there is evidence to show that business damages could be reduced by having an emergency plan. On the other hand, some social research …


Livelihood Resilience: Preparing For Sustainable Transformations In The Face Of Climate Change, Thomas Tanner, David Lewis, David Wrathall, Saleemul Huq, Chris Lawless, Raphael Nawrotzki, Vivik Prasad, Md Ashiqur Rahman, Ryan Alaniz, Robin Bronen, Katherine King, Karen Mcnamara, Md Nadiruzzaman, Sarah Henley-Shepard, Frank Thomalla Jan 2015

Livelihood Resilience: Preparing For Sustainable Transformations In The Face Of Climate Change, Thomas Tanner, David Lewis, David Wrathall, Saleemul Huq, Chris Lawless, Raphael Nawrotzki, Vivik Prasad, Md Ashiqur Rahman, Ryan Alaniz, Robin Bronen, Katherine King, Karen Mcnamara, Md Nadiruzzaman, Sarah Henley-Shepard, Frank Thomalla

Ryan C. Alaniz

The resilience concept requires greater attention to human livelihoods if it is to address the limits to adaptation strategies and the development needs of the planet’s poorest and most vulnerable people. Although the concept of resilience is increasingly informing research and policy, its transfer from ecological theory to social systems leads to weak engagement with normative, social and political dimensions of climate change adaptation. A livelihood perspective helps to strengthen resilience thinking by placing greater emphasis on human needs and their agency, empowerment and human rights, and considering adaptive livelihood systems in the context of wider transformational changes.


Creating Community After Disaster: Norm Formation In Post-Hurricane Mitch Resettlements, Ryan Alaniz Jan 2015

Creating Community After Disaster: Norm Formation In Post-Hurricane Mitch Resettlements, Ryan Alaniz

Ryan C. Alaniz

How does a group of displaced disaster survivors living in a resettlement develop into a community with common vision, trust, collective efficacy and participation? Path dependency theory provides the framework to track the social development of resettlements over time. Drawing on 932 household surveys, 34 interviews, and nine months of ethnography, it is found that initial key processes and the creation and maintenance of social structures shape long-term outcomes. In the case of two similar post-Hurricane Mitch resettlements in Honduras, the development of social norms created unique community cultures. These social structures set the tone for the long-term social development …