One Hundred Years of 'Disasterology' Looking Back and Moving Forward
•
1 like•780 views
Meditations on the 100th anniversary of the Halifax, Nova Scotia, ship explosion, which gave rise to the first concerted social study of disaster and started a century of academic work in this field. Where do we 'disasterologists' come from and where are we going in the next century of our work?
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (20)
Similar to One Hundred Years of 'Disasterology' Looking Back and Moving Forward
Similar to One Hundred Years of 'Disasterology' Looking Back and Moving Forward (20)
More from Prof. David E. Alexander (UCL)
More from Prof. David E. Alexander (UCL) (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
One Hundred Years of 'Disasterology' Looking Back and Moving Forward
- 1. One Hundred Years of 'Disasterology' Looking Back and Moving Forward David Alexander University College London
- 2. Rev. Dr Samuel Henry Prince 1885-1960 Nova Scotia, Columbia University 'Disasterology' starts here
- 3. • the start of an academic field? • S.H. Prince set the ball rolling • human ecology of extreme events and situations began around then • a symbolic 'big bang'. Why the Halifax explosion is important to 'disasterology'
- 4. • much progress has been made in understanding disasters • massive increase in interest and participation • do we have a well-defined body of information/research/knowledge? • from one journal to c. 84 (or 600). One hundred years of disasterology 6 Dec. 1917 - 6 Dec. 2017
- 5. • mainstreamed? [IPCC, etc.] • legitimacy? • position in the sciences • position in society (private sector, public administration, ordinary life) • sufficiently professional?. From a field to a discipline (which it isn't yet)
- 7. Theory, if it is any good, • explains • connects • validates • qualifies • makes more efficient.
- 8. Practitioners Emergency services Emergency management agencies Volunteer NGOs Researchers Academics Consultants Users The general public Businesses Three constituencies
- 9. Academic knowledge producer Simple phenomenon Complex analysis Beneficiary (knowledge user) barrier of technical complexity Unsatisfactory outcome BUT...
- 10. HAZARD, RISK & DISASTER STUDIES SEVEN SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT Criminal justice and forensic science and perhaps an eighth... Sociology Psychology & psychiatry Economic & financial studies Development studies Disaster medicine & epidemiology Physical & construction sciences Geography & anthropology: cultural (human) anthropology The theory producers...
- 11. Ecology Geology (& Geomorphology) Geophysics (inc. Seismology) Volcanology Climatology Hydraulics Hydrology Meteorology Architecture Civil engineering Geotechnical engineering Structural engineering Mechanical & electrical engineeringInformation & communication technology (ICT) Computer technology Remote sensing Risk analysis (inc. risk identification, estimation, management & communication) Cartography Development studies Economics Geography, History Jurisprudence & legal stds Urban & regional planning Mass media studies Psychology Sociology Epidemiology Nursing Nutrition Pharmacology General medicine Surgery & emergency medicine Public health, hygiene & epidemiology Veterinary sciences Health sciences Social & spatial sciences Computational & analytical sciences Construction sciences Atmospheric & water sciences Earth & environmental sciences HAZARD, RISK & DISASTER CONSTITUENT DISCIPLINES
- 13. • to the management of incidents, emergencies, disasters and crises • to emergency and crisis planning • to urban and regional planning [weak connection - is it our fault?] • to the evolution of society (inc. CCA) • to climate change, sustainability, wealth differentials - i.e. vulnerability. Connections
- 14. • a search for meaning • disaster risk creation • cultural constraints and opportunities • an existential viewpoint. How do disasters work, what do they mean?
- 15. • science provides an evidence base: politicians do not use it • progress can go into reverse with funding cuts or political changes • ideology more important than rationality? • people take risks and do not mitigate • official views of DRR & human motivation are hopelessly divergent from reality. A search for meaning
- 16. Disaster Risk Reduction or disaster risk creation?
- 19. Vulnerability Total: life is generally precarious Economic: people lack adequate occupation Technological/technocratic: due to the riskiness of technology Delinquent: caused by corruption, negligence, etc. Residual: caused by lack of modernisation Newly generated: caused by changes in circumstances
- 20. • corruption • political decision-making • shoddy building (often wilful) • ignorance (sometimes wilful) • seismicity. What causes earthquake disasters? - in probable order of importance -
- 22. Paradigm (n.): A conceptual or methodological model underlying the theories and practices of a science or discipline at a particular time; (hence) a generally accepted world view.
- 23. • an objective, a process or a strategy? • a paradigm, diverse paradigms? • 'bounce-back' or 'bounce-forward'? • focuses on the community scale? • can reconcile dynamic & static elements? Resilience
- 24. Many definitions: are we asking too much of resilience?
- 25. RESILIENCE: as a material has brittle strength and ductility: so must society have an optimum combination of resistance to hazard impacts and ability to adapt to them.
- 26. The "cradle" of resilience: Canonbury Tower London N1. Built in 1509 to survive the Universal Deluge: inhabited in 1625 by Francis Bacon.
- 27. Francis Bacon Sylva Sylvarum, 1625
- 28. Basic concepts: hazard, vulnerability, exposure, risk, impact, resilience, etc. Hazard analysis Technical skills: telecomminications computer, GIS, etc. Emergency planning Emergency management Disaster sociology and psychology Public information management Recovery and reconstruction planning Methods of risk mitigation Field exercises Disaster and emergency management training
- 29. • the definitional morass, minefield, swamp, quicksand • what do you need to know to be a disasterologist? (who knows?) • field has highly varied aims & objectives • we teach a wide variety of groups • how to create the professional figure?. Pedagogical problems of 'disasterology'
- 30. • a well-defined body of readings • a set of core topics (vulnerability, exposure, resilience, etc.) • a teaching methodology (scenarios?) • a consensus on basic knowledge. How to define our curriculum We need:-
- 31. Recognition and an institutional role for the professional figure Certification of competence Training programmes Emerging professional figure Policies and legislation Research Experience Organi- sation
- 34. BENIGN (healthy) at the service of the people MALIGN (corrupt) at the service of vested interests interplay dialectic Justification Development [spiritual, cultural, political, economic] IDEOLOGY CULTURE
- 35. RISKS daily: unemployment, poverty, disease, etc. major disaster: floods, storms, quakes, etc. emerging risks: pandemics, climate change SUSTAINABILITY disaster risk reduction resource consumption stewardship of the environment economic activities lifestyles and communities SUSTAINABILITY
- 36. THE PILLARS OF MODERN LIFE idealism principle belief faith fanaticism ultranationalism authoritarianism backlash virtue charity service defence of principles unscrupulousness corruption opportunism censure capital availability wealth diffusion financial security financial repression debt burden consumerism ingegnuity pragmatism technological progress crass materialism galloping consumption pollution and waste technological hegemony Ideocentrism Morality Luchrocentrism Technocentrism SPIRITFLESH PHILOSOPHICALMECHANISTIC Positive Negative
- 37. ...culturally conditioned. Ideocentrism + ideal: effective disaster mitigation - fanaticism: politicization of humanitarian relief Morality + virtue: untiring application of mitigation measures - corruption: failure to observe building codes Luchrocentrism + financial security: monetary reserves vs. disaster - financial repression: poverty --> vulnerability Technocentrism + ingenuity: new hazard monitoring systems - technological hegemony: unfair distribution of mitigation benefits
- 38. HUMAN CONSEQUENCES OF DISASTER “ORTHODOX” MODEL PHYSICAL EVENT HUMAN VULNERABILITY “RADICAL CRITIQUE” (K. HEWITT et al.) HUMAN CONSEQUENCES OF DISASTER HUMAN VULNERABILITY PHYSICAL EVENT WHAT WE NEED NOW (21st Century) HUMAN CONSEQUENCES OF DISASTER HUMAN VULNERABILITY CULTURE HISTORY PHYSICAL EVENTS CONTEXT & CONSEQUENCES
- 39. C E E E E C E/C E E E E E E E E E/C (a) (b) C – cause E - effect Escalation points The rise of the cascading disaster
- 40. Source: Pescaroli and Alexander, in press
- 41. We must learn to live with complexity. Not only that, but we also have to model it.
- 42. Conclusion: on the shoulders of giants
- 43. Learning processes Improved safety Lesson learned Change and innovation Experience and theory Recognition and comprehension Lesson to be learned • Unexpected event • New circumstance • Error • New practice
- 45. Lesson to be learned: We will never even understand the problem, let alone solve it, unless we start being realistic about the world in which we live.
- 47. • as Kai Erikson noted, disaster shifts our position on fundamental dimensions • we live in the New Baroque Age characterised by tension of opposites • massive cultural dynamism is redefining the symbolism of disaster • to understand disaster, we need to be interdisciplinary with boldness and ingenuity.
- 48. There is no doubt that "we live in interesting times".