Natural disasters, cultural responses : case studies toward a global environmental history / edited by Christof Mauch and Christian Pfister.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Mauch, Christof.

Pfister, Christian.

Series:

International environmental history

The German Historical Institute studies in international environmental history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Natural disasters.

Disaster relief.

Physical Description:

xi, 382 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Lanham, MD : Lexington Books, [2009]

Summary:

According to UN statistics, approximately two hundered million people are directly affected every year by natural disasters-seven times the number of people who are affected by war. Discussions about global warming and fatal disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and tsunami of 2004 have heightened our awareness of natural catastrophes and of their impact on both local and global communities. Hollywood has reflected this new consciousness by producing numerous disaster movies in recent years, several of which have become blockbusters.

This collection of essays testifies to the profound impact that earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and other such events have had on humans throughout history in every part of the world. Several contributors argue that the experience of catastrophe has changed humans' behavior and perceptions over time without necessarily reducing their degree of exposure or risk. The book includes case studies from Western Europe, Scandinavia, Algeria, the Middle East, China, India, the Philippines, Argentina, Mexico, and the East Coast of the United States, ranging from the medieval through the modern period. While natural disasters occur around the globe, different cultures, societies, and regions have adopted specific methods and technologies for managing local hazards and for surviving catastrophic natural events. Indeed, how humans deal with catastrophes depends largely on social and cultural patterns, values, belief systems, political institutions, and economic structures. The roles that natural disasters play in society and the meanings they are given vary from one political and geographic space to the next. The essays collected here help us to understand not only how people across the centuries have learned to cope with disaster but also how communities in different parts of the world have developed cultural, social, and technological strategies for doing so.

Contents:

1 Learning from Nature-Induced Disasters: Theoretical Considerations and Case Studies from Western Europe / Christian Pfister 17

2 Disaster and Political Culture in Germany since 1500 / Franz Mauelshagen 41

3 Summer Frost: A Natural Hazard with Fatal Consequences in Preindustrial Finland / Timo Myllyntaus 77

4 Society and Natural Risks in France, 1500-2000: Changing Historical Perspectives / Rene Favier, Anne-Marie Granet-Abisset 103

5 Humanitarianism and Colonialism: Religious Responses to the Algerian Drought and Famine of 1866-1870 / Bertrand Taithe 137

6 The Floods of Baghdad: Cultural and Technological Responses / Otfried Weintritt 165

7 Interpreting Earthquakes in Medieval Islamic Texts / Anna A. Akasoy 183

8 Famine in Bengal: A Comparison of the 1770 Famine in Bengal and the 1897 Famine in Chotanagpur / Vinita Damodaran 197

9 "Heaven-Sent Disasters" in Late Imperial China: The Scope of the State and Beyond / Andrea Janku 233

10 Cultures of Disaster, Cultures of Coping: Hazard as a Frequent Life Experience in the Philippines / Greg Bankoff 265

11 The Parana River Floods during the Spanish Colonial Period: Impact and Responses / Maria del Rosario Prieto 285

12 Documenting Disaster: Archival Investigations of Climate, Crisis, and Catastrophe in Colonial Mexico / Georgina H. Endfield, Sarah J. Davies, Isabel Fernandez Tejedo, Sarah E. Metcalfe, Sarah L. O'Hara 305

13 American Disasters during the Twentieth Century: The Case of New Jersey / James K. Mitchell 327.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780739124154

0739124153

9780739124161

0739124161

9780739134610

0739134612

OCLC:

268952993