Originally published in 1983, Interpretations of Calamity provides a provocative critique of the ‘dominant view’ of research into natural hazards. Throughout the world, there are now many people professionally engaged in the mitigation and control of risks & hazards, and the impact of continuing economic development will ensure that they are fully employed. There is a wealth of perspectives in the book, including weather and wheat yields in the Soviet Union and Canada, an historical view of underdevelopment and hazards in Ireland and the impact of a response to drought in southern Africa, the Sahel and the Great Plains of the USA. The book reflects the major themes of hazards in the context of economic development and social change. Most of the case studies are from the rural and agriculture scene. This book provides a unique view of the vital importance of food production and of the considerable, and sometimes calamitous, impact that frost, flood, storm and drought have on the wellbeing of millions of people and on the stability of the international economic system.
Edited by:
K. Hewitt
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Volume: 4
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 453g
ISBN: 9780367350772
ISBN 10: 0367350777
Series: Routledge Library Editions: Ecology
Pages: 324
Publication Date: 04 October 2019
Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
ELT Advanced
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Foreword Preface Acknowledgements List of Tables Part I: Natural Disaster: Mischance or Misnomer? 1. The Idea of Calamity in a Techncratic Age 2. Coping with Frosts, Governments and Disaster Experts: Some Reflections Based on a New Guinea Experience and a Perusal of the Relevant Literature 3. The Bushmen and the British: Problems of the Identification of Drought and Responses to Drought 4. Drought in the US Great Plains: Shifting Social Consequences 5. The Sahelian Drought: Social Sciences and the Political Economy of Underdevelopment 6. Underdevelopment and Hazards in Historical Perspective: An Irish Case Study Part II: Hazards in Context: Problems of Agricultural Development and Food Security 7. Interpreting the Role of Hazards in Agriculture 8. The Place of Climatic Hazards in Food Scarcity: A Case Study of Belize 9. Food Production Under Conditions of Increased Uncertainty: The Settlement of the Paraguayan Chaco by Mennonite Farmers 10. Climactic Hazards and Agricultural Development: Some Aspects of the Problem in the Indo-Pakistan Sub-Continent 11. Wheat Yields and Weather Hazards in the Soviet Union 12. Climactic Hazards and Canadian Wheat Trade Part III: Alternative Frameworks 13. On the Poverty of Theory: Natural Hazards Research in Context 14. Global Disasters, A Radical Interpretation 15. A General Approach to the Identification of Hazards and Responses Author Index Subject Index
