Reflecting on Ben Wisner’s Contributions to Scholarship and Scholars: The Benschrift

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Ben Wisner JC Gaillard (University of Auckland, NZ.)

Reflecting on Ben Wisner’s Contributions to Scholarship and Scholars

The Benschrift

Ben Wisner, JC Gaillard (University of Auckland, NZ.), Ilan Kelman (University College London, UK, and University of Adger, Norway)

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English

Routledge
31 October 2025

Human geography; Management of land & natural resources; Natural disasters; Social impact of environmental issues

This book is a festschrift in tribute to Ben Wisner’s contributions to disaster studies and adjacent fields of scholarship such as political ecology, development and sustainability.

This festschrift for Ben, and so The Benschrift, revitalises, promotes and critiques a selection of six foundational articles that span Ben’s 50-year career. Each article is reproduced integrally and followed by a commentary by an expert in the field and a response from Ben. As a result, this book not only introduces a lifetime’s work to the latest generation of researchers; it also contributes a meaningful dialogue across decades of scholarship, expressing contemporary reflections alongside the understanding of how to engage with and improve past research. Two fundamental truths stand out: the value of local knowledge and the necessity of seeking root causes and radical solutions.

This book is an essential read for students, researchers, policy makers and practitioners interested in the development and evolution of disaster scholarship, political ecology, development and sustainability studies.

Edited by: Ben Wisner, JC Gaillard (University of Auckland, NZ.), Ilan Kelman (University College London, UK, and University of Adger, Norway)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 510g
ISBN: 9781032695976
ISBN 10: 1032695978
Pages: 260
Publication Date: 31 October 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Ben Wisner is an activist scholar who finds himself tempted by nostalgia for the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, when he worked to understand and address disaster risk with civil society and local government in a number of countries in eastern and southern Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. In his eighties, he watches the autumn leaves turn colour, contemplates the cycle of life, death and rebirth, and wonders what impact his university teaching and publications have had. The warm southwest wind whispers the names of his many co-authors, co-editors and research partners. He is grateful for them all. JC Gaillard is Ahorangi o te Matawhenua/Professor of Geography at Waipapa Taumata Rau/The University of Auckland. His work focuses on power and inclusion in disaster and disaster studies. It includes developing participatory tools for engaging minority groups in disaster risk reduction, with an emphasis on cultural and gender minorities, people in detention and children. Ilan Kelman is Professor of Disasters and Health at University College London, England and Professor II at the University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway. His overall research interest is linking disasters and health, integrating climate change into both. Three main areas are: (i) disaster diplomacy and health diplomacy; (ii) island sustainability focusing on safe and healthy living and livelihoods; and (iii) risk education for health and disasters.